Pavol Ižvolt earned his architecture degree from the Slovak Technical University in 1996 and completed a Master’s degree in Conservation of Monuments and Sites at the Raymond Lemaire Centre, Belgium, in 1999. He achieved his Ph.D. degree in architecture focused on monument authenticity in 2010.

Joining the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic in 1997, Pavol Ižvolt coordinated preservation efforts at the UNESCO World Heritage Site – Spiš Castle and the Associated Cultural Monuments. As Director of Monument Protection Department at the Ministry of Culture from 2006 to 2013, he led strategic legislative initiatives and represented Slovakia in EU and UNESCO expert committees. He also co-initiated an acclaimed project of castle ruins conservation with the help of the unemployed.

Next project that he coordinated, “Pro Monumenta”, on preventive maintenance of monuments (inspired by the Dutch “Monumentenwacht”) received widespread recognition at home and abroad, and eventually became an integral part of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic organizational structure.

A collaborator with non-profit organisations, author, and sought-after speaker on diverse issues concerning cultural heritage, Pavol Ižvolt assumed the role of Director General of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic in May 2022, bringing his extensive expertise and dedication to the state service in heritage conservation. Since 2022, he has been implementing a thorough monument protection reform in Slovakia (financed by the European Union Recovery and Resilience Plan) which includes monitoring the technical condition of state-owned monuments and developing an extensive set of methodologies for monuments conservation.