The restoration of the Royal Chapel of Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, one of the most unique and little-known spaces of the monument, both because of its difficult accessibility and its Mudejar style, unusual throughout the complex, faces its last moments in … while waiting for technical reports that they must summarize all the work that has been done and everything that has been found. The drafting of these documents, their distribution and their delivery constitute the last steps before the conclusion of the work, already completed in its physical part.
This was confirmed to ABC by the working canon of the cathedral chapter of Cordoba, Agustin Morenowhich recalls that this work was ordered and paid for by the Ministry of Cultureand that the government agency itself had commissioned the reports from the company in charge of the work.
There they will talk about what has been done in recent months, the discoveries that have allowed us to know certain aspects that remained hidden and the appearance that the chapel had in previous centuries. This is the case for some trellis which until now remained hidden and that in the evolution of the works which are now about to be finished, they have seen the light again.
However, the future will not take us to the moment when the Royal Chapel of the Mosque-Cathedral will be accessible to visitors like the rest of the monument. The contemporary perception that visitors have is that of a raised spaceto which there is direct access only by a staircase or, as happened during the duration of the works, by scaffolding.
Previously it had remained at a height greater than two meters above the ground, because the previous access had been lost, located in the western area, that is, the closest to the Alhakén II area and which would later become the gothic cathedral.
With the changes that have occurred over the centuries, the integration of Royal Chapelwhich had been built in the 14th century as the burial place of two monarchs of Castile.
Studies
From now on, visits will be excluded because, although you can access the interior by a mobile ladder or any other element, the floor is in very poor condition. fragility and it is not advisable to go inside.
“It’s a ground very old,” said the cathedral worker canon about the possibility of going inside. He Advice I might look into a procedure for making the interior visible in some way, but that will be something that will be known in the coming months when the reports are available and the work is considered complete.
With the submission of the reports, the work started in spring 2024 will come to an end, after a long wait. He Ministry of Culture contributed 523,000 euros for the work, which was entrusted, after the call for tenders, to the company Tracer, although there had already been previous interventions and above all a complete study of the interior which allowed us to know in depth the state of the Royal Chapel and all its elements.
The reports will include findings in a group where gilding and polychromy from plasterwork have been recovered.
The works have had an extension, so that throughout this year they have been invested 53,482 euros it is more about continuing to progress in restoration and knowledge, as well as in the repair work on the gilding of the plasterwork, which has characterized the monument over the centuries.
At that time the remains found were cleaned and the remains of polychromy of a decoration were visible which, due to the style and the date in which it was made, already in Christian times, is linked to two other Andalusian monuments: the Real Alcázar of Seville and the Alhambra from Granada.
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