The repair of Kost Castle in the Jičín region is two-thirds complete

Podkost - The renovation of the Gothic castle Kost in the Jičín region, which began in the autumn of 2019, is over two-thirds complete. So far, approximately 66 million crowns have been spent out of a total of about 100 million crowns, which also includes project documentation, archaeological research, and restoration work. The reconstruction of the monument is expected to be completed by the end of 2021. Jan Macháček, the castle keeper, told ČTK. The castle belongs to the Kinský dal Borgo family.

"The progress of the work is according to schedule, we are not losing time, it should go smoothly for us. Two-thirds of the financial resources have been invested," Macháček told ČTK.

According to him, the archaeological research, earthworks, repair of the castle walls, and most surfaces of the palaces have been completed within the castle complex. "The western side of the Vartemberský Palace, the western side of the walls, and most surfaces of the courtyard remain, where new paving is being carried out," said Macháček.

The current reconstruction is the most comprehensive in the modern history of the castle. It includes the stabilization of the ground under the castle, drainage of the area, as well as the restoration and stabilization of the outer and castle walls. The costs of the reconstruction are about 100 million crowns, with a grant from the European IROP program covering 80 percent of eligible costs.

"The most visible changes will be the new paving; most of the courtyard had been grassed over until now, and the restoration of the facades on the castle palaces. In the last time period of the castle, the facade on them was not present," Macháček told ČTK.

The archaeological research has refined the dating of the castle's origin as well as its appearance in the 13th century. "Kost was initially considered to be a smaller fortress, which had one defensive tower and was otherwise made up of a wooden palisade and wooden buildings. Thanks to the archaeological research, we found that from its inception, Kost was relatively large for its time; it had a stone entrance gate and a large defensive tower that could reach a height of up to 30 meters. The fact that it was not a small wooden castle but rather a large stone castle in the 13th century is a significant change for us," Macháček told ČTK.

According to him, the research has also pushed the origin of the castle back several decades into the past, to the mid-13th century. "It cannot be stated with 100 percent certainty, but this is our theory. We must wait for the evaluation of the findings," Macháček added.