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Archaeologists working on Turgaus Street near Jonas Hill have unearthed about 400 square meters of area. It is scheduled to be investigated in mid-October. More work is expected: the remaining 200 square meters are planned to be opened. meters. Archaeologists have unearthed the foundations and a little below them. The objective is to know the state of the old foundations of the church, the builders will evaluate if the planned reconstruction of the church of San Juan will be able to stand on them. Finds that help paint what the interior of the old church looked like are also important. The archaeologists intend to collect as many details of architectural decoration, both interior and exterior, as possible, which would allow applying certain solutions in the reconstruction of the church.
VIDEO: Archaeologist R. Nabažaitė demonstrates the finds found at the site of the Church of St. John
“We discussed for a long time how many churches were demolished after the Second World War. From an archaeological point of view, the results are not very encouraging when it comes to reconstruction. Only the foundations of the church have survived. After the church’s demolition during World War II and its final dismantling, almost everything was leveled in 1946-1947, architectural details were removed and only the foundations remained, ”said Raimonda Nabažaitė, the archaeologist who led the research.
During the investigation it was possible to determine different levels of foundations, it was noticed that they moved, a large cavity was formed in a certain place, which was filled with bricks and construction material during the handling of the ruined church. Examining part of the church tower that was once standing, it was confirmed once again that the tower was blown up during WWII.
The prewar church had been built on the old foundations. Archaeologists have managed to open spaces that bear witness to the existence of the Church of San Juan since the great fire of the city from 1706 to 1854.
Very few items were found to provide information about the appearance of the church before the fire. It is true that archaeologists have discovered a depth of about 1 to 1.7 meters underground. Cultural strata can reach up to 3.5 meters underground, but archaeologists follow the rule: if you can’t dig, don’t dig. Especially since remains of tombs were also found. We want to preserve the sacred character of this place.
While inspecting the exposed area, R. Nabažaitė said that he had seen the location of two fairly well preserved interior columns. They are important in determining where the level of the church floor was. Perhaps the most rewarding find is the device of the heating system.
“Our biggest discovery is the church heating system built in 1925. It is known from historical sources that gas heating was replaced by circulating air heating in that year. We found a circular engineering unit with a floor mounted duct and a metal grid. It is still difficult to judge how this system worked, it will still have to be explained, “said the archaeologist. The discovery of the remaining unexplored area is expected to reveal an analogous second part of this facility.
There are not many small finds.
A few years ago, while investigating the location of an old 16th and 17th century German church along the Danube with their colleagues, R. Nabažaitė and his colleagues found more than 30,000 people there. recommendations.
“There were layers of diverse information, it is still awaiting publication. Having discovered a fairly large area here, we have few finds, many parts destroyed, it is not an informational object so far, ”said the archaeologist.
J. Andriejauskaitė / 15min photo / Archaeological investigation at the site of St. John’s Church in Klaipeda.
During the excavations, he had to interact with the locals who were children at that time and played in this place. There is evidence that the locals took the remains of the destroyed church from here for their own use.
“Actually, there is little left to do with the pre-war church construction: a tile detail, an interior feature, a window sill. We discovered the power cord in 1931 and somehow we were glad to have a little find. Slate roof, which would indicate that after the great fire, the prewar church was left with a completely different roof covering than the previous one. The investigation has also revealed the remains of a fire in a large city in 1854. Inside the church, below ground level, some wells have been dug and some poured debris, we have found many tiles, roofs, church bricks that correspond to the bricks of the foundations, and there are no more such interesting finds, ”said the archaeologist.
We discovered the power cord in 1931 and somehow we were glad to have a little find.
Coins from the second half of the 18th century, finds related to the home (ceramics, tiles) were found under the floor, but these finds, except for the coins, are not related to the period of the church’s existence. It is known that in the 18th century the foundations of the church were filled with imported earth. Caused the surface after the fire of 1678.
“It should be noted that the foundations of the church contain large enough bricks and we know from historical sources that the foundations were made of Gotland stone, brick and lime. Those bricks would be between 16 and 17 centuries in size, although the church was built in 1706 after a major fire in the city. Since I had to participate in a study of a German church from the 16th-17th centuries, it is likely that those bricks came from the first church. The excavations at that time also revealed only the level of the foundations and completely no remains of the walls, which would indicate that the bricks had been selected and used for the construction of this church, ”said the expert.
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