The first stage of the renovation of the Trenčín synagogue is financed with the help of grants from the EEA and Norway and the state budget. Thanks to the project, a unique exhibition dedicated to Jewish history and culture in central Považí will be created in the interior.
The restoration of the Trenčín synagogue is nearing its end. The iconic building in the center of the regional city receives a new impetus thanks to the project for which the Jewish Religious Community (ŽNO) Trenčín received funding from grants from the EEA and Norway, as well as from the state budget. "The archaeological work is behind us, we have finished insulation, paving, which contains new electrical distribution and heating, and sanitary facilities. The entrance door will also be restored soon, so the synagogue will once again have a dignified entrance," says ŽNO president Oľga Hodálová. The windows on the dome should also be finished by the end of this year. They will be openable. The entire building is also drained.
An important part of the work was cleaning the interior from secondary coatings. It was about thousands of square meters that passed through the hands of experts. The restorers managed to discover beautiful motifs in the Art Deco style, which originally decorated the walls, under the white plaster. "Currently, we have already cleaned the entire synagogue, from three layers of deposits. Fixation will follow," explained Oľga Hodálová, adding that in the next stage they would like to restore the painting. However, the complication in this case is the lack of visual documents that would capture the interior of the synagogue. "We have one black-and-white photograph and one painting, which is also inaccurate," she stated
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As part of the project, an exhibition of Jewish culture will be created in the synagogue. The skeleton is already being made, while historians are also collecting archival materials that they want to show to the public. “We are restoring some of the immovable objects from the synagogue that we have and will display in it - for example, special clocks. We also have Torahs or parochet on Aron ha-kodeš," continues the president of ŽNO Trenčín.
The preparation of the exhibition is in charge of the project's partner, which is the Jewish Cultural Institute headed by director Maroš Borský. He already has several experiences with similar projects. He restored and restored Bárkány's collection in Prešov, which is the largest collection of Judaica in Slovakia. He also prepared an exhibition in the Bratislava synagogue. "The team he gathered around him is very high quality," says Oľga Hodálová. Installation of the exhibition should begin this year, and it will be made available to the public in April. Then the synagogue should start functioning again.
To restore the synagogue, ŽNO Trenčín originally received 898,000 euros from grants from the EEA and Norway and from the state budget. This year, it was allocated additional funds in the amount of 201,691 euros. The reconstruction of the building should continue in the future, with the help of other external financial resources that ŽNO is trying to obtain.