Caroline Turazová
"Chapel of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Horná Bzová" (2016)
In October 2016, twenty-four award winners from EUSTORY competitions met at a History Camp in Georgia. For this occasion they prepared posters about their projects and findings which were displayed in the National History Museum in Tbilisi.
My competition entry was about a unique sacral building in Slovakia, the chapel of fir bark situated in the forest Horná Bzová near the village Podkriváň. The aim of my research was to gain a lot of information about this chapel, try to find out its architect and also compile memories of people who lived close to it.
How did you decide on your topic?
When I chose my topic for this year´s competition, I faced a lack of suitable historical photography. Later, a friend of our family helped me with my topic and due to the fact that I am interested in art and architecture, I chose a picture of her showing the extraordinary chapel. I was curious who built this chapel and its current constitution.
How did you react when you came upon surprising points during your research?
The most surprising point for me was that this chapel covered with fir bark is unique in Slovakia. Additionally, I had many difficulties to determine the architect and the year of its construction, because this information is missing in the chronicles. Thanks to the memories of witnesses, I was able to detect the missing details. In the interviews I found out that the architect’s name was Earl Stephen VI. Zichy and that he had built the chapel in 1910.
Take a closer look at Caroline’s poster here.
For her project about the Chapel in her hometown, Caroline was awarded ninth prize in the Slovakian history competition.