The historic vicarage of St Anne’s Church in Wilanów is being insulated. The matter came to the attention of the conservation officer, who did not give permission for such an action. The work has been halted and the parish priest will have to restore the building to its original state.
The case was brought to the attention of the Mazovian Provincial Conservator of Monuments. In a published statement, he indicated that he had not issued a permit for the insulation of the rectory building of St Anne’s Church in Wilanów. He inspected the work carried out and ordered the removal of the polystyrene cladding.
The rectory building, which is located near the gardens of the Wilanów palace, was thermo-modernised. The rectory is adjacent to the 1772 Neo-Renaissance church of St Anne and was built a few years later. The church was designed by Jan Kotelnicki, and the investment was financed by August Aleksander Czartoryski, then owner of the Wilanów estate.
Both the church and the presbytery were entered in the register of historical monuments in 1965. The building has therefore been legally protected for almost sixty years, despite which the external walls were covered with polystyrene foam. The insulation of the building was undertaken by St Anne’s parish. Editor Michał Wojtczuk of Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw managed to contact the parish, which informed him that it had no knowledge that the building had monument status…
As part of the work, the side wall of the building has already been insulated and the Styrofoam covered with plaster. A far more difficult task for the contractor would be to insulate the façade. The front of the building has numerous ornaments that could simply disappear. Fortunately, the work has been halted. However, the parish is defending the thermo-modernisation and has challenged the application of the provincial conservator to the conservator general (Minister of Culture and National Heritage). Now the final decision to remove the Styrofoam and restore the building to its original appearance depends on the Ministry’s decision. We would be surprised if it gave its approval to leave the ‘panierka’ in place.
source: Mazovian Voivodeship Historic Preservation Officer(https://mwkz.pl)
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