Guess The Building's Purpose

Folly? Roman temple? Arcade entrance?

I HAVE walked past this building dozens of times, without really paying it much attention.

When I first started visiting Olomouc, the building was in a rundown state, but has been extensively renovated, thanks in part to money from that well-known patron, the EU.

I had guessed it was probably a kitschy reproduction of a Greek monument, but its renovation piqued my interest and I decided to find out more.

The writing across the top is a clue.

The upper line, VĚRNOST ZA VĚRNOST, is in Czech, meaning LOYALTY FOR LOYALTY.

The lower line, LJUBAV ZA LJUBAV, is in Serbo-Croat, meaning LOVE FOR LOVE.

The building turns out to be a mausoleum, erected in the 1920s by the Czechoslovak-Yugoslav League, a body promoting cooperation between two of the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

It contains the bones of more than 1,200 soldiers who died in Olomouc hospitals during World War One and who were ethnically from areas that formed the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later renamed Yugoslavia.

The mausoleum was owned by Yugoslavia, but a mix of neglect and vandalism meant it was in a bad state of repair long before the break up of the 'Land of the South Slavs'.

None of Yugoslavia's successor states wanted responsibility for the building, so a Czech court eventually ruled it should belong to the city of Olomouc.

This metaphorically opened the door to EU funding, supplemented with money from the city and the Czech government.

Unfortunately the literal doors of the mausoleum are not open to the public, which is a shame as inside there are supposedly interesting frescoes with a Christian theme.

Perhaps I will get to see them on a future visit.