The Regional Tourism Organization (KOCR) of the Trenčín region has taken care of a Slovak unique experience! In cooperation with experts, it has created transparent graphic panels on which line drawings complete the missing parts of the castles. With just one glance through the glass pane, the tourist gets a picture of the original contours of the majestic castle walls.

Glass panels have grown up in places with an ideal view of selected castles and castle ruins in the Trenčín region, which have become an imaginary window into the past. "Imagine that while wandering through nature you come across a place with a beautiful view of the ruins of a castle. What did the castle look like? What is missing from the castle? That is why we decided to install transparent graphic information panels in such places, near the castle ruins, that can answer these questions for tourists," says the executive director of the regional tourism organization Trenčín region. Chairman of KOCR Trenčín region Juraj Gerlici adds that the selection of plots on which the panels will stand was in practice more demanding than in the project's visions: "We were slowed down by several factors, from the property and legal settlement of the lands to technical problems with fitting the visualizations to the castle ruins. In the end, however, we managed to find an ideal piece of land in the case of 7 selected castles. Currently, 5 out of 7 boards are already standing, in Beckov, Čachtice Castle, Lednice, Tematín Castle and Vršatci. The seven will soon be joined by Považský and Trenčín Castles.” He admitted that when choosing the locations, they also took into account the attractiveness of the place and the proximity of tourist and educational trails.

A photographer with a frame goes into the field

Before preparing the materials and graphics, a professional photographer joined the action. "After consulting with the expert and author of the drawings, architect and castle historian Martin Bóna and photographer Stanislav Hladký, we decided that the drawings would be based on current photographs. So we went through all 7 castles with a makeshift wooden frame in the dimensions of the prepared panel, according to which the focal length was set and individual castles were photographed", explained the project manager of the KOCR Trenčín region Pavol Štefčík. Line drawings were prepared based on the images taken, which were subsequently printed on the glass filling of the panels. "Drawings of academic reconstructions of castles are based on current knowledge from monument research, as well as historical depictions of these buildings. The drawings thus interpret and revive the extinct form of monuments and, by situating them in the field of view of visitors, allow them to be transported back several centuries directly in the field", said the author of the graphics Martin Bóna. He mentioned that the most challenging part was summarizing historical data and background information, and the drawing itself took 3-4 days.

7 stone guardians of the Trenčín region through glass

The finalization of the project was preceded by the “adjustment” of the graphics. In order for the drawings on the boards to be of the correct size, height and angle, the terrain had to be mapped again for orientation reasons. “The construction itself or parts of the board were not difficult to make. The biggest problem was bringing the material to the installation site. The terrain to the castles was in many cases difficult and without an access road,” said Branislav Delinčák, managing director of the ARDSYSTÉM company, which took care of the production of the panels and their installation. “The board filling consists of safety tempered glass, which, if broken, breaks into small pieces without sharp edges, which prevents any risk of injury,” added Delinčák.

Some of the panels can be found near the castles, while others have to be walked to.

In order to fit the entire drawing of the castle building on the board, a different distance had to be chosen for each of the 7 castles. A view of Beckov Castle in its 17th-century Renaissance garb can be seen by tourists if they take the path behind the castle towards the plum alley and turn left at the crossroads. At Čachtice Castle, the panel is difficult to miss; it is located directly in front of it, on the rocky slope of the access road on the left. In Lednice, it is more difficult. However, a green tourist sign will lead tourists to the board in the direction of Lednice Rocks. A view of Tematín Castle at the end of the 17th century can be seen by tourists if they follow the blue tourist sign on the way to or from the castle towards the Bezovec recreation center. You can compare the current appearance of the ruins of Vršatec Castle with its theoretical appearance near the Hotel Vršatec, where the panel is installed next to the tourist map. The panel depicting Trenčín Castle in the second half of the 16th century can be found by the sidewalk and cycle path between the old and new railway bridges in Trenčín. After the installation of the last of the 7 panels, which depict the contours of Považský Castle, people will definitely not bypass the panel when walking along the Vážská Cascade, near the Church of St. Ladislav in Považské Podhradí.

What's on the glass has gotten onto the paper

Drawings of the academic reconstruction of the castles and their comparison with the current state of the castle ruins were also published in printed form. The result is a publication entitled "History Yesterday and Today" , which includes 7 castles from the Trenčín region plus 3 castles from the East Moravia region. The material will be available to Slovak tourists at Beckov Castle, Čachtice Castle, the City Cultural Center in Nové Mesto nad Váhom, the City Information Center in Dubnica nad Váhom, the PX Center in Považská Bystrica, the Púchov Information Center and the Trenčín Castle . Across the Slovak-Czech border, the public will find the publication in three places - at Brumov Castle, Lukov Castle and the Information Center in Koryčany .

The project was implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Transport and Construction of the Slovak Republic.

The publication entitled "History Yesterday and Today" is the output of the international project of the same name, implemented with the use of funds from the Small Projects Fund of the INTERREG VA SK-CZ operational program.

PS, Trenčín, March 24, 2022