Marek Sobola is an authorised landscape architect, professional gardener and heraldic artist from Slovakia.
Life
Sobola was born in Žilina, Czechoslovakia into a family from Lalinok and Divina. He spent the first years of his life in Divina. Marek studied landscape architecture at the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra at Horticulture and Landscape Engineering Faculty. He graduated in 2004 and began working in own studio. Alongside the architect's practice he continued at his studies at SUA at Faculty of European Studies and Regional Development, Department of Sustainable Development in 2004 – 2007. After finishing his studies he again continued at his studies at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra at Faculty of Arts as an historian for another five years. She works as a heraldic artist since 2015. His specialization is the Ecclesiastical heraldry in Missionary countries. Sobola is since 2011 a member of the Slovak and since 2018 also of the Czech Chamber of Architects. From 2017 is a member of the Liturgical Commission of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Žilina.
The project of restoration The statue St. John of Nepomuk in Divina was carried out under auspices of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Slovakia. St. John of Nepomuk is one of the most frequently illustrated saints in the territory of the former Habsburg monarchy and there are monuments of him in almost every village in Slovak and Czech republic. The, until now, unknown story of the statue of St. John of Nepomuk in Divina goes back to canonical visitation of the Divina parish on 1 September 1828, which provides the first reference of the time of origin of the statue – 1796. As referred to by the canonical visitation, the statue was damaged by a massive flood in 1822. Partners, who were addressed by Marek Sobola, the author of the project, to cooperate have either some connection to St. John of Nepomuk or to Slovakia. The project was honoured by patronage of His Majesty Norodom Sihamoni, the King of Cambodia and His Majesty Simeon II., the last Tsar of Bulgaria. Along with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Žilina, the project donors are: His Royal HighnessFranz, Duke of Bavaria, The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, The Knights of the Cross with the Red Star, the only Catholic knight order or Czech origin, Metropolitan Chapter House of St. Vitus in Prague, which is the owner of the saint's grave and the town Nepomuk – the birthplace of St. John of Nepomuk. Out of domestic partners, the project was supported by municipalities of Divina, Divinka–Lalinok, Svederník and the Philatelist Club 53-19 from Žilina. The ceremonial holy mass in the St. Andrew's Church in Divina was on Friday 2 June 2017. After the holy mass, the statue was uncovered on its new stand by Joachim Bleicker, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Slovakia together with Emil Molko, Mayor of Divina and author of the project. Subsequently, it was blessed by Mons. Tomáš Galis, Bishop of Žilina.
Publications
SOBOLA, Marek : Divinka Lalinok. Divinka : Municipal office of Divinka 2018..
SOBOLA, Marek : Príbeh svätojánsky, Socha sv. Jána Nepomuckého v Divine / The Story of St. John, Statue of St. John of Nepomuk in Divina / ដំណើររឿងរបស់ St. John, រូបចម្លាក់ St. John Nepomuk នៅក្រុង Divina / Die Johannisgeschichte, Die Staute des hl. Johannes Nepomuk in Divina / Историята на св. Ян, Статуята на св. Ян Непомуцки в Дивина. Žilina : Servare et Manere, o. z. a Kysucké múzeum v Čadci, 2017..
SOBOLA, Marek: Marek Sobola PORTFOLIO. Žilina : Marek Sobola 2016..
SOBOLA, Marek: Ľudová architektúra v Javorníkoch. In: KOLEKTÍV AUTOROV: JAVORNÍKY, Veľká kniha o nemalom pohorí, monografia. Martin : Matica Slovenská 2016..
SOBOLA, Marek: Kaplnka sv. Lazára z Betánie v Novej Bystrici. , Slovenská komenda vojenského a špitálskeho rádu sv. Lazára Jeruzalemského, 2015..
JANURA, Tomáš - ZVEDELOVÁ, Kristína - SOBOLA, Marek. Vidiecke šľachtické sídla v Turčianskej stolici. Spoločnosť Kolomana Sokola s finančnou podporou Ministerstva kultúry SR a Historického ústavu SAV, 2014. Projekt HÚ SAC CE Hrady na Slovensku. Interdisciplinárny prierezový pohľad na fenomén hradov..
SOBOLA, Marek – BIELEK, Pavol: Prioritné a deficitné poľnohospodárske oblasti v katastrálnom území obce Oponice určené pedologickými charakteristikami . In: Vedecké práce Výskumného ústavu pôdoznalectva a ochrany pôdy. Bratislava: Výskumný ústav pôdoznalectva a ochrany pôdy 2007, p. 138 – 151..
Awards
Association for Garden Design and Landscaping of Slovakia The Garden, Park, Garden detail of 2016, Category „Garden detail of 2016“
Bronze medal: Green wall in Château Gbeľany – Slovakia
Silver medal: Green wall in Gothal Liptovská Osada – Slovakia
Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic Phoenix – National Cultural Monument of the Year 2017
Honorable recognition for exceptional realization of the restoration project of the Statue of St. John of Nepomuk in the village of Divina, located in the Žilina Region.
