BUILDING HISTORY OF THE BUILDING

YOU ARE IN A BUILDING THAT IS HISTORICALLY CONNECTED WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FIRST SLOVAK GYMNASIUM IN REVÚCEJ – THE RESULT OF THE EFFORTS OF SLOVAKIANS FOR EDUCATION IN THE SLOVAK LANGUAGE. THE BUILDING IS THE SECOND BUILDING OF THE SLOVAK GYMNASIUM, THE ESTABLISHMENT OF WHICH WAS INITIATED AS EARLY AS 1864, THE CONSTRUCTION DUE TO LACK OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES DID NOT START UNTIL IN 1870. THE FIRST EXCAVATION WORK BEGAN ON MAY 1, 1871 AT 10 AM. A FINANCIAL AND CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE WAS ESTABLISHED FOR THE CONSTRUCTION. THE BUILDING PASSED THROUGH VARIOUS STAGES DURING ITS CONSTRUCTION. ACCORDING TO THE ORIGINAL PLAN, IT WAS TO BE A GROUND-FLOOR, SINGLE-STOREY BUILDING WITH A CENTRAL PORTIC.

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF CONSTRUCTION, THE DECISION WAS MADE TO INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF THE BUILDING, BECAUSE INTEREST IN STUDYING AT THE GYMNASIUM WAS GROWING SIGNIFICANTLY. THE ORIGINAL DESIGN WAS REWORKED AND IVAN BRANISLAV ZOCH PREPARED A NEW DESIGN FOR A TWO-STOREY BUILDING. IN THE MUSEUM OF THE FIRST SLOVAK HIGH SCHOOL IN REVÚCEJ, THE FLOOR PLANS OF BOTH ABOVE-GROUND FLOORS OF THE BUILDING HAVE BEEN PRESERVED WITH THE NORTHWESTERN (NW) FACADE, WHICH STILL CORRESPONDS TO THE PRESERVATION DRAWING OF THE NW FACADE.

THE BUILDING HAS NOT BEEN CONSTRUCTIONALLY CHANGED AFTER ITS CONSTRUCTION IN 1873. CHANGES IN THE LAYOUT WERE MADE ONLY IN THE INTERIORS WITH REGARD TO THE USE OF THE BUILDING AFTER THE FORCED TERMINATION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL IN 1874. WITH EXCEPTIONS DURING THE WAR PERIOD, THE BUILDING WAS USED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES.

IN THE POST-WAR PERIOD, THEY DECIDED TO LIGHTEN THE CLASSROOMS. NEW WINDOW OPENINGS WERE CREATED AND THE SEMI-CIRCULAR WINDOW OPENINGS OF THE PROJECTS WERE ALSO MODIFIED.

A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE TO THE BUILDING OCCURRED DURING THE RENOVATION IN THE YEARS 1992 TO 1998. THE COMPREHENSIVE RENOVATION OF THE BUILDING IN THE 1990S WAS RELATED TO THE EFFORTS TO STOP ITS DILAMINATION, WHICH WAS ALREADY EVIDENT IN THE 1980S. IN 1992, THE CITY OF REVÚCA ALLOCATED 700,000 CZK FOR THE REPAIR OF THE ROOF. THE SCHOOL’S RENOVATION LAST UNTIL 1998, WHEN IT WAS CEREMONIALLY HANDED OVER TO THE FIRST SLOVAK LITERARY HIGH SCHOOL WITH ALL-SLOVAK AUTHORITY ON SEPTEMBER 16,

THE TOWN OF REVÚCA HAD A SIGNIFICANT PLACE IN SLOVAK LITERARY HISTORY FOR YEARS, ALSO THANKS TO THE EXISTENCE OF THE FIRST SLOVAK LITERARY HIGH SCHOOL. AS ITS NAME ALREADY INFORMS, THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS OF THIS INSTITUTION EMPHASIZED LITERATURE, AND IT IS WITH IT THAT THE TOWN HAS ALWAYS BEEN CONNECTED. OVER TIME, THE NUMBER OF INTERESTED IN STUDY DECREASED. IN 2018, IT WAS ATTACHED TO THE MARTIN KUKUCÍN HIGH SCHOOL IN REVÚCEJA AND SINCE THIS YEAR, THE HISTORIC HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING HAS BEEN UNUSED. ITS OWNER, THE BANSKÝBYSTŘKÝ SELF-GOVERNMENT REGION, DECIDED TO BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO THE BUILDING. TOGETHER WITH THE SLOVAK CHAMBER OF ARCHITECTS, IT ANNOUNCED AN ARCHITECTURAL AND DESIGN COMPETITION, THE RESULT OF WHICH WAS A PROPOSAL FOR THE REVITALISATION OF THIS HISTORIC BUILDING. IT WAS A COMPREHENSIVE COMPETITION THAT WAS UNPRECEDENTED IN SLOVAKIA AND REQUIRED THE PARTICIPATION OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAMS, BROUGHT A COMPREHENSIVE ARCHITECTURAL AND DESIGN VIEW OF THE URBAN PLANNING OF THE AREA, THE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN OF THE OBJECT AND THE DESIGN SOLUTION OF THE INTERIORS. ​​IT ALSO INCLUDED EXHIBITION DESIGNS, THE DESIGN OF MODERN MULTIMEDIA USED IN THE EXHIBITIONS AND THE VISUAL SOLUTION OF THE IDENTITY OF THE CULTURAL INSTITUTION BY GRAPHIC DESIGNERS, INCLUDING THE NAME OF THE CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.