Monument Cross was built in 1863 at Saint Nicholas’ square in Belgrade as a sign of city’s final liberation from the Turks. It was completely made of marble Rosso Marvanj. The monument had many cracks, especially on a middle pedestal. Some cracks were visible after the works on dismantling started, when the pedestal broke to pieces. Missing parts of the stone were poorly patched in the past using mortar and other inadequate materials whose color and structure are different from the original stone. In time clay parts of the stone were washed away leaving creases on the stone. Upper part of the monument and cross base along with the cross, leaned to one side. Part of a monument 1m high was under the ground, which is explained by filling the field around the monument frequently flooded by the river Sava in the past. Parts of the monument dug out from the ground were somewhat damaged, mostly at the edges where the stone cracked or smaller parts of stone were missing.
Repairs and restoration-conservation works on the monument started in May 2009 and lasted four months:
- Dismantling the monument: cross, pedestals and steps;
- Careful removing of mortar patches and other inadequate materials from the stone;
- Cleaning and washing all dismantled parts of the stone with detergents ECO RECEPT 01, ECO RECEPT 02
and water under pressure of 120bar; - Putting together and consolidating - hardening parts of stone by using the products ECO POLYMER D and
ECO CONSOLID K; - Repair of monument parts;
- Restoration of stone;
- Making reinforced concrete foundation for the staircase and lower part of pedestal;
- Monument assembly;
- Consolidation of stone with the product ECO CONSOLID K;
- Protection - conservation of the stone with the products ECO IMPREGNIR K, ECO IMPREGNIR MK and
ECO IMPREGNIR S; - Conservation of additionally built segmental pavers and curbs in the pavements around the monument with the
products ECO IMPREGNIR K and ECO IMPREGNIR S.
