King Nikola's castle in Bar will be closed to visitors during the summer season due to reconstruction works, which began on November 1, 2023, and was scheduled to be completed in August this year. That date will be moved, but it is not yet known when the Castle will be open to visitors.
The Cultural Center of Bar, which manages the Castle of King Nikola, which is also the local museum, did not respond to the questions of "Vijesti" about the reconstruction, the legal status of the employees in the Castle, as well as the question of the annual and seasonal income from ticket collection.
They redirected "Vijesti" to the Municipality, from which, after submitting the questions, they issued a statement in which they said that due to unforeseen circumstances it was necessary to extend the deadline for the completion of the works on the reconstruction of King Nikola's Castle in Topolica, but they did not specify a possible date for the completion of the works.
As they said, they cannot answer questions about ticket sales and the status of workers, because that is the responsibility of the Cultural Center.
"During the implementation of conservation measures, i.e. the performance of conservation-restoration works, with a careful and responsible approach to the Castle building - an immovable cultural property of national importance, the contractor discovered significant findings that were not possible to see during the development phase of the main project", they stated.
They added that the newly discovered situation was documented and elaborated through 15 expert reports, submitted to the Directorate for the Protection of Cultural Properties of Montenegro in order to collect guidelines and consent for further adequate implementation of conservation and rehabilitation measures.
"All the above-mentioned findings will be an integral part of the amended main conservation project, as well as the interior design project of King Nikola's Castle, the construction of which is in progress," said the Municipality of Bar.
As they stated, analyzes of statics and construction, analysis of the found state of the facade and research of the original layers, analyzes of facade joinery, analyzes of found and newly discovered floor coverings from a later period were performed.
"It is important to emphasize that most of the new data was discovered only when the restoration work began, i.e. removing the layers of paint from the walls and carpentry, i.e. the layers of floor coverings," said the Municipality of Bar.
More significant findings, as they said, are related to the discovery of the color of the non-wall decoration, which permeates segmentally through all floors of the building. The walls of the rooms were, for the most part, geometrically divided into fields, bordered by borders on the upper and lower sides, as well as towards the corners.
In some cases, they added, the wall is separated from the ceiling by a wide strip. The presence of a plinth, which changed height and tonality through different colored layers, is also noticeable. Over time, other painting and decorative techniques were used. In some of the later layers, paper wallpaper was found, and in some rooms stencil painting of the walls, with the help of rollers, is noticeable.
"All painting-conservation-restoration works will be carried out in accordance with modern principles of protection, with the use of quality, compatible materials and techniques, in accordance with the rules of the conservation profession, with the engagement of adequate professional workforce in order to ensure the authenticity and preserve the integrity of the object/ of cultural property, with the application of all conservation measures prescribed and approved by the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Property", said the bar administration.
The extension of the deadline, as they said, is necessary in order to enable a high-quality and careful restoration of the Castle, since such complex and extensive operations on this cultural property were not carried out after the restoration of the consequences of the catastrophic earthquake in 1979.
King Nikola's castle was built in 1885. It consists of a large castle, a small castle, a chapel, guardhouses and a winter garden. In 1910, a spacious ballroom was added. Within the castle there is also a park with a large number of Mediterranean plants.
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