The renovation of the monument – Stowarzyszenie na rzecz Dziedzictwa Książąt Żagańskich

THE RENOVATION OF THE MONUMENT

The church of the Holy Cross – the mausoleum of the dukes of Żagań is a branch church of the Roman Catholic parish of Saint Joseph in Żagań comprised of 1480 people. Since 2008, together with community organizations and the residents of Żagań, it has been making efforts to restore the building to its original greatness from 1849. Throughout the last decade, a number of actions have been taken toward the renovation. In 2008, thanks to a grant of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, the foundations were restored. The next step was raising funds for our own contribution in the investments. In order to achieve that since 2008 we have organized culture-oriented Parish Fairs called Parish Meetings with the Muses by the church of the Holy Cross in Żagań. In 2013 the parish renovated the roof truss and roofing, funded with subsidies from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the local government.

Between 2014 and 2015 a historical wall from 1849 by the mausoleum of the dukes of Żagań was renovated and partially rebuilt. In 2014 a conservation survey of the interior was conducted. The results confirmed the presence of polychromes from 1850. In 2016 the parish commissioned the construction and conservation documentation of the mausoleum facade. In January 2017 all necessary permits for the renovation had been obtained. In addition, since 2016 the projects of electrical, alarm and fire protection installations, as well as the lighting in front of the church have been consulted. In collaboration with the National Heritage Board in Warsaw the facade of the monument was 3D scanned in August 2016. As a result, the parish obtained a detailed inventory of the facade and interior as well as the floor plans of the building. In 2017 the parish was refused a grant for the facade renovation and due to that, it is seeking other sources of funding for the project.