MINSK, 5 August (BelTA) – Renovations on Corpus Christi Cathedral in Nesvizh will be launched in September or October this year. The roof repair project was approved by the Belarusian Research and Methodology Rada for Historical and Cultural Heritage at the Culture Ministry of Belarus, BelTA learnt from the ministry. When presenting the project, research supervisor Sergei Drushits suggested coating the main dome of the church and domes of two chapels with copper. The rafters of the roof (it will be wooden) will be replaced with new ones and the roof slopes will be covered with S-shaped ceramic roof tiles. The Rada has approved of the project. Representatives of the Culture Ministry of Belarus, directorate of construction at the Culture Ministry, Nesvizh authorities and Belrestavratsia Company gathered for the first working session on June 1 to discuss the issues regarding the restoration of the renowned specimen of the 16th-century architecture. The priorities are the development of design documentation for the roof and drainback system repairs, and also for the millwork. This year the experts are also planning to perform a significant amount of research on the paintings, altars, stucco in the decoration, the burial crypt of Radziwill family, and conduct a geological research of the territory around the cathedral. As the documentation is prepared, the experts will start on the restoration of the facades of the church, the tower of the former Castle Gate, Bulgarin chapel, church fence. Br1 billion will be allocated from the national budget and Br1 billion from the Minsk oblast budget for the restoration works in 2010. The general designer is Belrestavratsia. Specialists from other organizations will be invited to work on the project too. The town of Nesvizh is one of the historical landmarks of Belarus. For a long time it belonged to the Radziwills, one of the richest families in Europe. Corpus Christi Cathedral is a masterpiece of sixteenth-century architecture. Corpus Christi Cathedral, also known as St. Francisek Xavier church, was the first Baroque-style Jesuit temple in Rzeczpospolita. The cathedral has the Radziwill family vault. The crypt contains 70 sarcophagi, which makes it one of the biggest family necropolises in Eastern Europe. БЕЛТА
Written by belta.by
