Oldest photo of Katarínka found

In 2018, a real gem for our organization was discovered. In the Slovak National Archive in Bratislava, the oldest surviving photograph (so far) of Katarínka, dated 1904, was discovered. The photo is located in the photo album of the Pálffy family, who are probably also present in the photo itself. It is an irreplaceable source of information for our organization, as the photograph provided us with new, previously unknown facts about Katarínka. This photograph was first presented internally to members and associates of our organization O.Z. Katarínka, during the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Katarínka. But now we are making it available to the general public for the first time.

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The timing of the photo (1904) is really fortunate for us. This is because only a year later after the photo was taken, in 1905, the four statues which were originally placed at the top of the tower, were thrown down from the top of the tower into piles of wood and hay and then transported to the vicinity of the Pálffy tomb at the cemetery in Smolenice, where they still can be found to this very day. So thanks to this photo, we can now see that the statues were not on the corners of the tower, as originally thought, but were located in the middle of its walls instead.

These three interesting parts of Katarínka can be seen on the photo, which are not standing anymore:

  • Brick roof of the tower with holes and decorative volutes on the edges.
  • Gable of the presbytery on the far left of the photo and the eastern wall of the presbytery with the imprint of the monastery roof. Today, nothing of them stands.
  • The northern wall of the monastery (to which wooden stables are added on the photo) – only a 1 meter high wall remains.
Detail on the original roof of the tower and the statues which were placed there originally.

Originally it was also assumed that the shape of the roof was completely different. One of the assumptions was the so-called pear-shaped roof, like most churches in Trnava have, but these ideas were wrong. Thanks to this photograph, it is possible to update the digital visualizations of what the whole church and monastery might have looked like. The photograph also provides administrative advantages in case of possible reconstruction of these no longer standing parts, as the authorities usually have problems allowing the reconstruction of parts where it is not fully documented how they originally appeared. However, the reconstruction of the roof is not considered at the moment and probably even in the future.

Katarínka thanks Tomáš Haviar for providing the photo.

For extra curious, you can download the photo in full size, here on this link.

Working season in 2019

The working season in 2019 covered works on the monastery and archaeology.

In the church, we completed the filling of cracks in the big crypt and fixed its brick stairs and the brick entrance edge. Ventilation was added to the small crypt. Three archaeologic test pits were made in the church nave – the original floor tiling and foundation of a small altar were discovered in the northeast corner.

   

In the presbytery, the reveals of the older passage from the monastery were masoned and temporary stairs from wooded beams were built.

The southeast monastery cells were surrounded by a scaffolding and the cracks on the east side were filled. The wall tops were partially taken apart and masoned again, isolated by clay and grassed to prevent their further destruction. Two of the missing window arches were added, east reveals were masoned and two hand-carved oak beams were added to the stabilizing wall system. The work in these cells will continue also in 2020.

   

In the southern monastery garden, archaelogic research of the enclosure wall was performed. The wall was masoned and cracks were filled; the wall top was fixed and grassed.

   

Archaeologic research in the southeast corner of the big quad revealed the monastery entrance and the research will continue in 2020.