2024-03-15 10:34:31
The image in the square of Kaloutsani is changing with the restoration interventions at the Mosque being in full progress, highlighting the prospects of upgrading the wider area, which has been neglected in recent decades.
Despite the metal protective fencing, which was put in in recent months, one can see the progress of the work which seems to be moving within the timetables, with the aim of completing the project by the end of 2025, 100 years after the monument was declared a protected by the Ministry of Culture.
The project entitled “Fixation and restoration of the Kaloutsani Mosque of Ioannina and preservation of its frescoes and woodcarvings – plaster elements”, financed by the Recovery Fund with 2.2 million euros, is part of the action “Cultural routes in emblematic archaeological sites” , under the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture & Sports and implementing bodies the Directorate for the Maintenance of Ancient and Newer Monuments and the Directorate for the Restoration of Byzantine & Post-Byzantine Monuments.
According to the technical bulletin, the project is implemented through two sub-projects. The first, entitled “Consolidation and restoration of the Mosque” is mainly aimed at preserving the authenticity, as well as the historical, architectural, structural and artistic value of the mosque. The goal of the restoration proposal is to highlight the original morphological, architectural and structural characteristics of the monument, which, despite multiple alterations, are largely preserved and can be made fully legible. Measures are proposed to deal with the corrosive factors and mainly to strengthen it against the stresses it may face in the future.
Specifically, the sub-project includes fixing and restoring the dome, strengthening the masonry of the superstructure and foundations with joints and grouts, installing stainless steel bars, restoring openings, maintaining and replacing worn timber ties, installing wooden frames, reconstructing the entrance door, painting surfaces, restoring of the floor to the original level, restoration of the NE and NW facades by removing elements from reinforced concrete, uncovering part of columns, strengthening the foundation, reconstruction of wooden floors, roofs and covering with slates, strengthening the supporting structure of the minaret, forming an accessibility ramp, arranging rain and placement of E/M installations.
In the context of the second sub-project entitled “Conservation and restoration works of frescoes, wooden – woodcarving and plaster elements of the Kaloutsianis – Kalou Cesme Mosque”, the maintenance works of the decoration of the Mosque are divided into two phases, rescue maintenance operations before the start of the restoration operations and systematic maintenance work.
In this context, work is being carried out to remove newer paintings, fix and preserve the painted decoration, protect the decoration and the parts of the mihrab and minbar. Systematic maintenance includes cleaning, fixing, restoration, filling of the substrate and the painted layer and the corresponding works for the plaster-wooden and wood-carved elements, as well as their aesthetic restoration. Also, the paper inscriptions are to be cleaned, restored and fixed.