10/10/2006
Vitoria-Gasteiz, 6 October 2006.
Once again, the Santa Maria Cathedral restoration project has garnered
international recognition. The World Monuments Fund, a North American
organisation long considered the largest private patron organisation in
the world dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage, has
donated $100,000 in honour of its “exceptional
value”. The donation will go towards restoring the polychrome
on the church´s portico.
The World Monuments Fund´s involvement with the Catedral
Vieja (Old Catedral) project came about as the result of the Encuentros
Internacionales sobre Rehabilitación (International Meetings
on Restoration) organised by the Municipal Agency for Urban Restoration
in Vitoria-Gasteiz one year ago. Pablo Longoria, consultant for the
World Monuments Fund Spain, attended these meetings and was fascinated
not only by the restoration´s scientific rigour, but also by
the project´s unique willingness to share this process with
the public by offering guided tours.
The main criterion used to select the funding recipients is artistic or
architectural excellence of the place undergoing restoration. Second,
the possibility of a long-term cooperative relationship with a matching
institution or sponsor is considered. Likewise, projects with an
emphasis on innovation that could serve as problem-solving models for
cultural heritage preservation are considered to be of special interest
as well.
World Monuments Fund
Founded in 1965, the World Monuments Fund is a non-governmental,
non-profit organisation located in New York (United States). It works
with both the public and private sectors to protect and preserve
cultural heritage locations throughout the entire world that are home
to important artistic and architectural works.
One of these locations is Caral, the oldest city in the Americas, whose
splendour is on par with that of the Egyptian pyramids, the Valley of
the Kings near Thebes (Egypt), the ruins of Petra (Jordan), the Roman
ruins of Pompeii (Italy), Shackleton´s wooden hut in
Antarctica or an adobe mosque in Ghana (Africa).
The “Robert W. Wilson Challenge to Conserve Our
Heritage” programme, which encompasses the Santa Maria
Cathedral restoration, began in 1997. It became official in 2001 in
order to obtain increased funding for field projects.
Among those present at the recognition ceremony, held in the Reception
Hall of the Vitoria-Gasteiz Town Hall, were: Mayor Alfonso Alonso;
Gonzalo Arroita, manager of the Santa Maria Cathedral Foundation; and
Norma Barbacci, World Monuments Fund project director for Spain,
Portugal and South America. After the ceremony, the attendees visited
the Santa Maria Cathedral restoration site, paying special attention to
the portico and the 11th century medieval wall, whose guided tour will
open next Monday, 16 October.