The Market Colonnade in Karlovy Vary is set to undergo another phase of reconstruction

photo: Irena Sedláčková

Karlovy Vary - In Karlovy Vary, the third phase of the reconstruction of the Market Colonnade will begin in September. In the previous two phases, nearly half of the colonnade was already reconstructed, and after the completion of work this November, about a quarter will still remain to be repaired. The progress of the work depends on how well the city manages to obtain grants, said Jiří Klsák (KOA), the mayor's deputy, to ČTK.

"The work is of such a scope that wooden parts are being painted. Where the wooden parts are completely in disarray, they are either patched or replaced. The price of the contract was set at around 500,000 crowns, but the winner secured it for just under 400,000 crowns," Klsák told ČTK. The reconstruction is expected to last about two months depending on the weather, and the city hopes to complete it as soon as possible.

For the repair of the Market Colonnade, the city is drawing grants from the Urban Heritage Zone Regeneration program. "In recent years, we have been pleased that this contribution has been steadily increasing, this year it was even 960,000 crowns. But it is never intended solely for one monument," Klsák explained. This year, for example, the city will also repair the monument to Friedrich Schiller from this contribution.

The Market Colonnade is a wooden colonnade in the Swiss style, richly decorated with carvings. It was built on the site of the old Karlovy Vary town hall between 1882 and 1883 according to the design of the famous Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer. The execution of the construction of the building, originally intended as a temporary structure, was entrusted to the master carpenter Oesterreicher from Vienna. Between 1904 and 1905, the colonnade was extended over the spring of the Market Spring. In addition, within the interior of the colonnade, the spring of Charles IV and the Lower Castle Spring emerge.