SMC

Historical rural churches are landmarks in all countries around the Baltic Sea. Once they were busy centres of the local communities, but nowadays historic churches have lost their central position in the society. Most of these buildings are listed as historical monuments and are considered to be valuable cultural assets. The churches could also have a strong indirect economic potential as tourist attractions. However, small congregations are having problems to take care of these buildings.

One main aim of the project was to raise the awareness of congregations and local communities about the need to improve the management of historical rural churches. This objective was reached by developing guidelines for drafting of long-term management plans. An extensive focus on research and documentation of historical churches (EE, SE) increased the knowledge about concrete conservation and management methods and supported the outreach activities of the project.

The project arranged seminars and training for specialists, students and members of local communities. Research and analyses of best practices regarding the long-term management of historical buildings was carried out. Indoor climate conditions were analysed in ten churches in order to get an overview of the present situation and find solutions to conservation problems. Additionally, researchers carried out work both in situ and in the lab on different conservation methods. The project also tested different methods of 3D modelling for documentation purposes.

Guidelines for management of historical churches

The project developed guidelines for the sustainable management of churches.

The guidelines include basis principles for management of historical churches (such as mapping of the social and cultural values connected to each site) as well as concrete guidance on the drafting of management plans. The guidelines cover themes like: the process of making a management plan, applying the plan in practice, research aspects including documentation, communication, financing. In addition, the guidelines include appendixes with checklists and examples supporting the planning and management processes.

Guidelines for sustainable management of churches ENG

Research report about preservation of historical churches

The project SMC carried out extensive research in 10 Estonian and Swedish churches in order to find out good solutions for the practical preservation of historical churches.

The final research report deals with challenges related to the indoor climate of churches. Preservation of churches including the items or artefacts housed in these is very much depending on the microclimate conditions incl. the relative air humidity. The research reports describes the challenges for example related to mould problems, algal growth and pink coloration due to bacteria. Different technical solutions in order to counteract the problems, like heating and dehumidification, are described as well.

Research report about preservation of historical churches ENG

3D model for documentation and conservation purposes

A 3D model of Pöide church in Estonia was created in order to develop and demonstrate the use of modern technology in the conservation of cultural objects.

Modern 3D technology is an important approach to ensure proper documentation and preservation of cultural heritage. The project SMC created a 3D model of the Pöide church and elaborated on different documentation techniques. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was used to make images from the air, for instance of the roof. The final report of the documentation part of SMC includes an interactive part of the 3D model, and the size of the report is therefore big (140 MB). Downloading and saving the document may take several minutes.

3D documentation of cultural heritage sites ENG (Note: Document size 140 MB)