Aims
The aims of the project are as follows:1. On the ground floor and in the basement of the former monastery building, closely adjoined to the church, will be room for pastoral and educational activities. Since the monastery garden will not be closed, the activities can interconnect with those taking place on the ground floor of the new-built Franciscan institute. It will be possible to access the basement (beneath the monastery) through the new staircase in the monastery garden. This level will form the basic frame of the future life in the complex.
2. Particular parts of the ground and first floors of the former monastery will serve as living quarters for elderly, ill and immobile monks.
3. The upstairs of the monastery will serve its primary function – the life of monastic community: in two arms will be the living quarters for pastoral community.
The attempt to enliven the uniqueness of the preserved area is an essential condition for the intended realization of this part of the estate. It will draw on conducted historical research evidencing individual stages of the complex development. The uncovering of these layers, their presentation and confrontation, if needed, should emphasize the historical value of preserved complex parts. The plan is to enhance the former interior with restored paintings. The new-supplied furnishings will be atypical, designed with focus on simple style and clean lines.
Another stage of the reconstruction will be the renovation of the church interior and exterior. The plan is to reconstruct the authentic colour scheme of the interior, to furnish the interior with new facilities (heating, lighting, acoustics), and restore the preserved interior areas.
4. The construction of the Franciscan Institute: the building will be a separate structure in the garden, situated on the location of the former dwelling unit that is in a state of irretrievable deterioration and has to be pulled down. Its destruction will make the authentic monastery architecture stand out and will make it possible to access the garden from the forechurch area, the future main entrance to the complex, utilized also for the purposes of Franciscan Institute activities.
The new building will provide the visitors to the institute with sufficient accommodation capacity: a 70-seat auditorium, a modern library and a chapel. The archive and library in the basement will serve the purposes of the study and storing of voluminous archival material and library resources that were returned to Capuchins after 1989, however, are still housed by different public professional institutes due to the lack of suitable space.
The idea of the establishment of the Franciscan Institute in Slovakia is the upshot of the decade lasting coordinating of different activities and projects that gradually took an institutionalised inter-Franciscan form and led to the founding of the Franciscan centre in 2001. The activities organized by the centre are directed towards Franciscan congregations in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Hundreds of monks, nuns and young people from all over Slovakia have taken part in the activities of the Franciscan centre.
The transformation of the Franciscan centre to the new-built Franciscan Institute in Pezinok will provide a platform for:
— the gathering of brothers and sisters of the Franciscan family
— the coordination of joint events
— centralized and effective publishing activities and the dissemination of information
— courses of study and specialized courses
— meetings, symposia and congresses
— the archive research and the study of the Franciscan history in Slovakia, in particular the history of the Communist regime’s persecution
— the building up of open modern Franciscan library
— the providing for translating and editing of Franciscan sources
— the organizing of spiritual seminars
— the organizing of professional training and local meetings of brothers and sisters
— the courses of formation
— contemplation stays
— the participation in the projects of the church and the region
— the cooperation with academic and educational home and foreign institutions
— etc.
