The Terezská Gate in Olomouc will present itself in renewed beauty

Olomouc - Restorers in Olomouc are completing the restoration of an important monument - the Baroque Terezská Gate in the city center. The restoration includes both stone and metal parts, and work began this May. The city hall will pay approximately seven million crowns, with one-seventh of the amount covered by a government grant, said the city hall spokesperson Ivan Rašťák.
    According to Jan Kubeš from the Olomouc office of the National Heritage Institute, the last major modification of the gate took place in the 1940s. Further partial modifications occurred in the 1990s.
    "Now we have been carrying out routine restoration work on all the reliefs, metal parts, and paving. We had to clean the monument, fill in gaps, and we replaced some missing small parts," stated restorer Ladislav Werkmann. He considers the restored nook with a fireplace, which served as a guard's background, to be an interesting detail.
    The artistic blacksmith and restorer Jiří Běhal has also had his hands full since May. "We renovated all three opening gates from the road side, and we replaced the locks of the gratings that were rusted by 30 to 70 percent," Běhal said. Part of the restoration included the renovation of the inscription at the front of the gate facing Palach Square and the restoration of the original oval Baroque grilles from 1753 at the upper part of the gate.
    "The original knee plates in the main gate remained, which I repaired. They are steel strips at the bottom that prevented the wheels from damaging the sandstone arch. In addition, they were fitted with flexible iron that directed the vehicle towards the center of the gate," described Běhal regarding this section of the monument. According to him, all work will be completed in October. After the repairs, the monument will be newly illuminated.
    The Baroque gate was constructed between 1752 and 1753 during the building of the fortress fortifications. It was named Terezská in honor of Maria Theresa during her visit to Olomouc.