At the repaired church of St. Catherine in H. Brod, the deanery wants to restore the tower this year

Havlíčkův Brod - The parish would like to renovate the tower with a clock dial at St. Catherine's Church in Havlíčkův Brod this year. They will apply for a grant from the region for the work costing 1.15 million crowns. The city is ready to contribute one-tenth of these costs. The application for co-financing from the Roman Catholic parish was approved today by the Havlíčkův Brod city council without discussion.

The church, located behind the bridge by the Sázava River, has been decaying since the 1950s. The parish started repairing it about five years ago. Last year, carpenters made a new wooden framework above the main church nave.

For the next phase of the roof restoration, the parish plans to apply for a contribution from the Heritage 2023 program. "The condition of this regional grant title is that the municipality in which the monument is located must contribute at least ten percent of the costs," said Deputy Mayor Libor Honzárek (TOP 09) to the councilors. Thus, the city should contribute up to 116,000 crowns to this year's church repairs.

Repairs to the church cost around 5.5 million crowns until last year. The parish received funding from the city, various grant programs, and from a public collection organized by the Epigram association, which helps with the monument's repairs. "We are reaching out to all available institutions, requesting the Ministry of Culture, the regional office, and the municipality. Of course, the parish also has a share," said Dean Oldřich Kučera to ČTK.

This year, the parish wants to reconstruct the tower, which will be covered with copper sheet. The roof of the church will eventually be covered with shingles, which are already installed above the sacristy.

In the public collection by the association, hundreds of thousands of crowns have already been gathered for repairs. Volunteers are also helping with some tasks. Last November, they were removing the outdoor cement plaster, which contributed to moisture retention in the masonry. They also took apart modern layers of the floor.

St. Catherine's Church has Gothic foundations and has been preserved in Baroque form with an external pseudo-Romanesque finish. It is said to date back to the 13th century. It was probably established as a mining church, near the only bridge over the Sázava at that time. A hospital stood outside the city walls with the church. Over the centuries, the church has been damaged several times. Further details can be found on the website.