Žilina Gallery :: Fotogaléria mesta Žiliny

41 – Považská art gallery Žilina

Turistická informačná tabuľka č.41 s QR kódom na Považskej galérii v Žiline
(Foto: 29. 3. 2014)

Once the state gendarmerie had been created in the Hungary Kingdom in 1881, a gendarmerie station with broader powers was established in Žilina until the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918. In 1911 a fairly extensive building was built for the gendarmes. It was designed by architect Karol Koch from Budapest. He bought the building, but didn’t acquire the property rights, because from 1918 onwards the building was possessed by the state.
The sandy yellow three-storey art nouveau building had a red roof with a small Hungarian emblem, situated over the main entrance, which was removed in 1919. The front and two side entrances were used as the main entrance. On 28 December 1918 the "Royal Hungarian Border Police Captains" building fell under the control of the Czecho-Slovak gendarmes and the district gendarmerie headquarters were established here. In 1925, eleven apartments were built upstairs for the gendarmes and the building was called the "gendarmerie barracks". During World War II the State Police Office in Žilina was based here. Then the building was home to National Security Corps agencies, a vocational school, and later on the editorial offices of the Mission newspaper and between 1972 and 1976 it housed the Považské museum and gallery.
The gallery became independent of Považské museum and in 1976 the building became Považská art gallery. In 1993 on the 90th anniversary of the first exhibition of Upper-Hungarian painters, the People of Žilina placed a commemorative plaque on the building’s facade. The Tourist Information Office of Žilina was also based here from 2007 to 2011. In 2008, the building managed by Žilina region was reconstructed, altering the layout of the attic and roof and the facade was renovated. Dušan Voštenák’s design entitled "Považská Gallery Attic" won the "CE·ZA·AR 2010" award for outstanding architectural work in the "Renovation and reconstruction of buildings" category.
It is well worth visiting the gallery attic where there is a permanent exhibition of works by Slovakia’s leading 20th century artist, Vincent Hložník, from nearby Svederník.

Zdroj: Mgr. Peter Štanský, doc. Ing. Novák Milan, PhD. Text prevzatý z webovej stránky TIK Žilina (kliknite): www.tikzilina.eu.