Problemy restauracji i restytucji kamiennych elementów architektonicznych Zamku Królewskiego

Work on the restoration and restitution of the Castle’s stonework was commenced in 1971 with the recording of 2,500 de tails excavated from the ruins. The recognition of the elements was possible thanks to a close study of 2,300 photos of the Castle from the years of 1900—1944. A comparison of the results of locating individual elements in the elevations of the Castle and the results of a petrographie study made it possible to specify the kinds of stone used in the Castle over centuries. Fallowing a conservational and technical elimination 151 m3 o f historic stone substance have been chosen fo r further re-use. This accounted fo r 17 per cent of the total Castle’s stonework. Out o f this, preserved delails of the sculptures constituted 40 per cent of a ll sculptures and the preserved parts of the chimneys accounted fo r as much as 48 per cent of the entire chimney stonework. The examination has shown th a t the materials used fo r the Castle's elevations included limestone, dolomite and sandstone, while Polish, Italian, French, Belgian and Greek marble was employed inside the structure. Impaired parts as well as missing elements have been made up by the PKZ conservators, who used to this end o r ig inal or similar materials of home and foreign origin. Substitute materials, also used nowadays, have been proposed by geological institutes a fte r carrying out detailed comparative studies.