From the tower of St. Simon's Church, answer the cracked calls

Photo: municipality of Valmiera

On Thursday, November 29, nearly 480 kg and 350 kg of heavy bronze bells were washed away from the tower of St. Simon's Church using rope cranes.

Until early next year, they will be open to anyone interested in the temple, but will be transported to the Netherlands for refurbishment at the end of January.

"The two bells are cracked.The master, for whom the church call renovations are a legacy of generations, will use a special technology to give the calls their former appearance.The calls to Valmiera will be sent back without cracks and the engraving will be In February, the workshop is expected to conduct a thorough appraisal of the appeals, with a precise determination of the extent of the restoration work to be carried out, and restoration is scheduled to begin in March 2019, in April. to be able to return to Valmiera in May, "said Ainārs Pastva, chairman of the Valmiera St. Simon's church board of directors.

The call records will also be restored because of the gap it has changed, and the smallest call is "silent" for many years. It is expected that calls will be connected to the system of electronic calls, which will dial every hour every day. However, the language of the language can be pushed at a certain pace to spit the beginning of worship, and will be able to do it in the usual way by doing it to the caller.

"After the restoration of the tower, the call room and the clock that is maintained there, which works on the facade of the church dial, will be able to be viewed. interesting digital solutions to communicate in a binding way the history of the church.For example, in the lobby of the tower, there will be a "live painting" – the image will begin to move when a visitor turns up. approach, "says A.Pastva.

The renovation of the interior of the tower involves the reconstruction of the staircase, bells and clock compartments, as well as the renovation of the windows, doors and floors of the building. inside. It is planned to create an interactive exhibition in the exhibition hall of the tower. The cabling will be fully restored, a fire alarm and CCTV will be installed.

In 1624, Valmiera had two bells. One was in the tower and the other – above the castle gate. When in 1702, the whole city was seriously affected by the fighting of Tsar Peter the Great I, a church bell disappeared in the fire, but there remained only the walls of the city. church. The restoration of the church began in 1703, when the work was completed in 1739.

The largest church bell, from a height of 70 cm and a diameter of 9.5 cm, was cast in 1754. It is labeled "Gerhard Meyer Fecit, Holmiae Anno 1754" ( produced by Gerhard Meyer in Stockholm in 1754). The smallest bell with a height of 70 cm but a diameter of 82 cm was bought in 1713. In 1799, H. E. Begrov caught up with him in Riga. Around the year 1900, the bell rings, then the master of Riga J.Švenns in 1902 exceeds it.

The Valmiera St. Simon Church is one of the oldest churches in Latvia, built in 1283. The church is a national architectural monument. In the 17th century, the bell tower took the appearance of what it remained until nowadays. On the 4th floor of the tower, there is a hall that has been surrounded by opaque walls by the viewers, but will be available for viewing after the restoration.

As part of the project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) "Culture, History, Architecture in the Gauja and the Temporal Spaces", the Valmiera Lutheran Church of Saint-Simon participates in the reconstruction of the tower.

It provides for eight municipalities in Vidzeme to restore and develop a total of nine cultural and historical heritage sites, creating a venue for new cultural and tourist services. The total amount of the project is estimated at around 170,000 euros.

It is expected that 75% of the cost of the renovation of the tower will be covered by the ERDF. The other expenses should be paid by the church with the funds paid, as well as by the co-financing of the municipality of Valmiera. As part of this project, the center of the cultural environment of the center will be built in Valmiera, which will familiarize with the eight centuries of the palace's history and provide space for the Identification, research and investigation of cultural heritage.