Wrocław, April 2018

Saint Elisabeth’s Church, designated as a military garrison church, is among Wrocław’s most precious heritage buildings. Restauro was asked to treat and remove deposits from numerous epitaphs on its elevations. The task was a particularly challenging one as atmospheric pollution in downtown Wrocław, where the Church is situated, tends to settle on stone surfaces, creating thick black crust which is very hard to remove. Traditional treatment methods are too invasive and largely ineffective, which is why we decided to apply complementary methods, with laser ablation as the main treatment. Each epitaph treated was different in terms of design, the period it came from, treatment history and condition. Laser treatment proved effective for all epitaphs, whether made of sandstone, marble, limestone or alabaster.