Eleven participants and two trainers met from 19 to 30 August in the church castle of Pelișor for the summer school HANDS ON CONSERVATION II. The Fortified Churches Foundation together with the association P.A.T.R.U. (Patrimoniu, Arhitectură, Tradiție, Rit și Universalitate) had taken over the organization of this ten-day workshop.
Architects, students, civil engineers, craftsmen, landscape architects and other interested persons could practice this summer in Pelișr directly “on the object” the contact with historical building materials. Monument conservator Sebastian Bethge from the Fortified Churches Foundation and Christian Rummel, carpenter from Richiș, led the training of the traditional carpenter’s art.
At the centre of the work on the 15th century church was a wooden construction on the inside of the gate tower. It had already been unusable for over twenty years and its poor condition not only posed a danger but also made access to the upper floors more difficult. These elements had already been dismantled by the Fortified Churches Foundation in 2017 and temporarily stored in the nave of the church. With the support of the foundation “Patrimonium Saxonicum” of the Sibiu architect Dr. Hermann Fabini, smaller bricklaying works could also be carried out and harmful vegetation removed.
TIMBER JOINTS:
The wooden construction and part of the roof could now be rebuilt thanks to the summer school. “Seventy percent of the historical material was reused,” Sebastian Bethge is pleased to report. With the access to the tower restored after two decades, the association P.A.T.R.U. can now devote itself to the long overdue cleaning work on the tower. Thanks to the preliminary work carried out, it is now also possible to repair the roof and install new floors as well as repair the old, damaged staircases. The Fortified Churches Foundation was therefore able to include Pelișir on the list of the roof programme for 2020.
The participants praised the atmosphere of the summer school, the quality of the work and the delicious food provided by the P.A.T.R.U. association. Nicoleta Trusca, a participant from Romania, summarized: “How nice it is to work in a team efficiently on a common cause! Especially when you are at such an impressive place and get the impression as if the place were in heaven! Some of the diligent craftsmen had already taken part in the last HANDS ON CONSERVATION workshop and are already looking forward to the next one!
GALLERY:
Altogether 45.000,- Lei were spent for the summer school HANDS ON CONSERVATION II. In addition to the Fortified Churches Foundation and the association P.A.T.R.U., the Romanian Architects’ Association and the Prince-of-Wales-Foundation paid the costs for the implementation of the workshop.
The association P.A.T.R.U. has been active in Pelișor since last year and is committed to the preservation of the fortified church and the vicarage.
Photos: Raoul Pop
