Save the ruins of a Slovak monastery - Katarinka

The summer has come to an end – and is slowly the volunteering season of 2017 at Katarinka. When we take a look back, there are a few special moments and highlights from the summer we would like to point out.

23rd summer for project Katarínka was in more ways very special and memorable. Firstly, exceptionally high number of new volunteers got involved – 86 of young helpers aged 17 – 40. Secondly. 10 tons of lime were slaked for the second time in the history of the project (what means we spent more than 10 tons of it already !!!). Moreover, very interesting findings were dug out with help of our archeologist Ivana Kvetanová.

And the best thing we achieved – after 8 years of conservation and reconstruction works, we opened the 30-meter high sightseeing tower for general public. The grand opening of the tower was covered by local media and took place in presence of special guests, local representatives from the nearby villages, our supporters and huge number of visitors during our biggest event of the year - the Doors Open Day at Katarinka on 5th July.

Founder of Katarínka project, Peter Herceg: “We are very pleased that we can share this success with others. After years of hard work, when hundreds of volunteers were taking turns here, we can open the sightseeing tower for public. Visitors can get to the top of a 30-meter high tower and enjoy the view of surroundings – Little Carpathians.

Other events offered to our visitors had more of a baroque charm, similarly as the architecture of the ruin. Two concerts of Baroque music were held during magical evenings illuminated mostly by candles, moon and stars. There were played compositions from authors such as Bach or Vivaldi. After the concerts there was a possibility to join a special night guided tour and eat some small tasty refreshments prepared by the volunteers.