St. George's Church: a temple saved by ghosts (11 photos)

For nearly half a century, St. George's Church in the Czech village of Lukova stood abandoned.





The last service was held here in 1968. During the funeral, the ceiling collapsed, sending terrified parishioners fleeing. Local residents considered this a bad omen and never set foot inside again.



The church slowly fell into disrepair. Sermons and services were now held outdoors, in the open air. The communist regime finished the job: everything of any value was taken away—paintings, statues, the church bell, and even the clock mechanism. The organ was smashed.

Time passed. The walls crumbled, the windows stared blankly, and superstitious fear kept people at bay.





Fast forward to 2012. A professor in the Department of Design and Fine Arts at the University of West Bohemia gave third-year students an assignment: find a suitable dilapidated church for an art installation. Each student had to choose their own object.



Some found only ruins, a foundation, and a few walls. But a student named Jakub Hadrava knew exactly where to look: an abandoned but almost intact church, whose threshold no one dared to cross.



Jakub contacted a local resident, Petrou Koukl. He was inspired to restore the church, and this spark of hope proved contagious.

The church looked depressing, but not hopeless. The roof needed repair, but the interior remained suitable for Jakub's plans.



This is how the ghosts were born. The artist created over three dozen life-size figures—mournful, shrouded silhouettes, faceless and detached. Here's how he described the process:

I decided to make plaster sculptures. I had to use models—my classmates became the models. At first, I cast each figure directly in the church, but then I made a replica of a pew and moved the process to the studio. The models were wrapped in plastic and raincoats to protect their skin, then layer upon layer of plaster-soaked fabric was added—thus creating both the bodies and the hoods. With luck, a single figure could be completed in half an hour.



Now the silent congregation sat frozen on the dilapidated pews, heads bowed, awaiting the sermon that had been interrupted decades earlier.



But the concept was deeper than mere aesthetics. The figures symbolize the Sudeten Germans—those who lived here before the war, who built this church and prayed within these walls, but who were expelled from Czechoslovakia after 1945. Their ghosts are not a curse, but a silent memory. A historical trauma frozen in plaster.



The plan worked and exceeded all expectations. The installation attracted enormous attention. Tourists from all over the world flocked to the village: from Germany, England, Australia, and Brazil. Thanks to their donations, funds were raised for a new roof frame.



The project not only breathed life into St. George's Church, but also sparked interest in saving other abandoned churches in the area. Superstition gave way to art, and fear to awe.



Over the years, the "Ghost Church" has transformed from an abandoned ruin into one of the most unusual landmarks in the Czech Republic. The story of St. George's Church is a rare case where art has proven stronger than both fear and time. The plaster ghosts created by the student not only saved the temple from complete destruction, but also reconciled the living with the past and with their own memories.