The restoration project

Required work

Restoration of interior decor and historical liturgical objects

The mural needs urgent conservation-restoration intervention: its support is degraded, missing in the lower part and contributes to the erosion of pictorial substance.
© Relevé Archéotech, photography Rémy Gindroz

The pictorial layers degrade and tend to disappear. It is urgent to undertake conservation-restoration works, and adapt indoor climate by renovating the heating system.
© Atelier Muttner

The Gospel, as well as many other liturgical objects that the church received on its inauguration, are damaged and must be restored. The paper has marks, while the cover with enamel medallions and the binding of this precious book have become fragile.
© Photography Michel Vernaz

The cleaned surface reveals the original vivid colours under the soot that remains on the right side of the picture.
© Photography Rémy Gindroz

Garden restauration, bell tower installation and parish hall development

In addition to the necessary redesign of the garden surrounding the church, the installation of a bell tower—an element that was impossible to include during the church’s construction in 1878—would address a significant omission. The bell tower is, indeed, a major architectural and spiritual symbol for the Orthodox tradition, as well as for other Christian denominations. However, it would be modest in size and positioned next to the church, thus preserving the harmony of the site.

Furthermore, the church lacks a dedicated space to welcome its parishioners. Transforming the basement into a community room would provide a space for listening and exchange, strengthening social bonds within the Orthodox community of French-speaking Switzerland and beyond.

© Photography Michel Vernaz

Ongoing or completed work

The church’s iconostasis, a rare and precious artifact dating back to 1845, was fully restored in 2021.

Between 2022 and 2023, the outdated heating system was urgently replaced to preserve the murals and canvases that adorn the building’s interior. Additionally, a stairlift was installed for parishioners and visitors with reduced mobility.

This year, the renewal of the lighting system will enhance the church’s richly decorated interior while improving visual comfort during services. The current lighting conditions make it challenging to read during ceremonies due to the dimness of the space.

Altogether, these works represent an investment of CHF 970,000.

Cost

Restoring painted decoration, 500 historical liturgical objects, and rehabilitating obsolete technical installations are among the most urgent tasks to be undertaken. Their estimation cost amounts to 2.98 million francs according to feasibility studies carried out in 2019-2020 by DOM associated architects.

The other needed tasks, namely transforming the garden to provide better access to people with reduced mobility, constructing a bell tower, and developing a parish room in the basement should amount to 1.55 million francs. This work is essential to adequately accommodate parishioners and will be implemented if the fundraising campaign allows it. Overall, the total cost of restoration works would thus amount to 4.53 million francs.

Support from the authorities

Architectural studies and works related to the restoration of the St. Barbara church are placed under the high patronage of the Monuments and Sites Division of the General Directorate of Buildings and Heritage (DGIP), as well as the Cultural Affairs Department of the Canton of Vaud. The Canton of Vaud has already officially granted cantonal and federal subsidies (through the financial support of the Confederation to objects allocated to cantons) up to 20% of the 2019-2020 project studies and surveys for the restoration and rehabilitation of the interior of the church. This is encouraging, especially in view of a similar subsidy for the restoration works (20% equally shared between the State of Vaud and the Confederation). Indeed, such early support from the Swiss authorities is not only appreciated in financial terms, but also demonstrates the relevance and importance of this restoration project in terms of preservation of the regional heritage.

As pointed out by the DGIP itself, “Like its landscapes, the monuments and sites of Canton of Vaud reflect the rich heritage of the canton. They must be protected to allow future generations to admire and study them as we do today, they must be preserved to ensure access to authentic testimonies of the past, and they must be documented to allow everyone to access such valuable data”. The project presented is fully in line with this perspective and today we appeal to your generosity to be able to carry it out as soon as possible.

Urgent need for additional resources

The income of the parish of St. Barbara comes exclusively from parishioners’ contributions, donations, collections and sales of candles, which are just sufficient to ensure the parish life as well as the day-to-day maintenance of the buildings, garden and objects necessary for the liturgical services.

This represents a heavy financial burden for the community. Indeed, the parish has already entirely financed the exterior restoration on its cash reserves (around 1 million francs) between 2000 and 2018 as well as 80% of the cost of the feasibility study for the restoration and rehabilitation of the rest of the church.

Dans ces circonstances, des sources de financement complémentaires doivent impérativement être trouvées afin de mener à bien ces indispensables travaux.In this context, additional funding sources are absolutely required to carry out this indispensable work. To that end, various fundraising operations are underway (individual donations from individuals, requests for subsidies from foundations and institutions, etc.), with a view to launching the works by 2021-2022 with the necessary guarantees.