Address:
State castle Žebrák
Client:
National Heritage Institute
Description of work:
Emergency maintenance works concerning curtain work masonry
Realization:
2015–2016
This project work aimed to perform emergency maintenance of the curtain walls masonry at the State Castle Žebrák. The castle was founded in the latter half of the 13th century by Oldřich Zajíc of Valdek near an important trade route leading from Prague to Bavaria. The castle was acquired by the Bohemian Crown during the reign of John of Luxembourg. The castle was expanded during the reign of Charles IV and his son, Václav IV, who also often stayed there, but after the fire of 1395, Václav IV ordered the construction of a new castle, Točník, on a nearby hill. The Castle Žebrák gradually lost his importance and by 1552 was mentioned as a ruin.
In the 1980s, the castle’s main drum tower underwent emergency repairs and was eventually opened for the public. GEMA ART GROUP a.s. carried out works aimed at preserving the castle’s masonry, based on project design documents by Ing. Vít Mlázovský. At the beginning of works, in such poorly accessible terrain, it was very difficult to erect scaffolding necessary for execution of the urgent work to rescue fortification wall. During the intervention, the fortification masonry was ridded of self-seeding plants, the stone was re-paired and the upper part of the masonry was treated against climatic influences.
