Reconstruction project under the official Royal Honorary Patronage of His Royal Highness Dom Duarte, Duke of Braganza, Head of the Royal House of Portugal
The NGO Servare et Manere is also dedicated to the promotion of cultural and historical monuments in Slovakia, including their restoration and reconstruction. Throughout its history, the association has been involved in several international projects and is also involved in publishing activities. There are several small wayside shrines (In Portuguese, such structures are called “Alminhas”) in the cadastre of the city of Žilina, some of which have disappeared, some have been reconstructed and others require restoration. Our association pais attention to these monuments of small sacral architecture and decided to reconstruct one of the buildings to its original form. We picked a wayside shrine (In German: “Bildstock”) for rescue, which is located on the walking route next to the road to the “Paľova búda” on Univerzitná Street. The small ecclesiastical building stands to the historic Pilgrimage route to the village of Višňové. We are currently working on historical research and a suitable proposal for the restoration of a historical monument. The restored building will also include a replica of the original statue of the Virgin Mary, which has disappeared in recent decades and will probably never be found again.
The wayside shrine at this place is already drawn on the historical map of Žilina from the author Michal Ruttkay-Nedecký from 1747. It is the oldest detailed map of the city. Object, resp. its core can therefore be dated to the middle of the 18th century. The wayside shrine is also drawn as a brick object on the letters of the First Military Mapping, known as the Josephine Mapping (completed during the reign of Emperor Joseph II). It was performed on the territory of Slovakia in the years 1769 and 1782 – 1784. Žilina and its surroundings were mapped in 1769. The wayside shrine is marked with a green arrow on the map in the gallery. This is the first building that Servare et Manere acquired into its ownership.
The first historical surveys and analyses began in 2023. Servare et Manere completed the architectural and historical survey of the small building in 2024. Probes were carried out in the plaster and the original painted decoration in blue and ochre shades was discovered. The niche for the statue of the Virgin Mary has a simple groin vault and a brick profiled pedestal.
In 2024, the association also received two grants, the first from the City Council of Žilina and the second from the Žilina Self-Governing Region to carry out the next stage of rescue work. The aim of the project was to dehumidify the building and also prepare for the new statue of the Virgin Mary. The poor technical condition of this building requires renovation from the ground up. Visually, the building has problems mainly with humidity and inappropriate sprayed cement plaster was used during the last renovation in the 1970s. As part of the renovation, inappropriate plaster in selected places was removed down to the level of the original masonry. After the sounding, a procedure was determined to renovate the foundations of the building in the least destructive way possible, thereby achieving their dehumidification and stabilization.
In 2025, the project received the Royal Honorary Patronage of His Royal Highness Dom Duarte, Duke of Braganza, Head of the Royal House of Portugal.