24/09/2009
Vitoria-Gasteiz, 24th September 2009.- A wooden cart drawn
by two oxen will re-enact on Saturday the original procedure for
bringing the stone blocks from the Quarries in Ajarte, County of
Treviño, to the Santa María Cathedral during its construction in the
Middle Ages. The cart, which will leave Mendiola between 11:30 and
12:00, will reach the Medieval Quarter at 14:00.
Coinciding with the celebration of the Medieval Market which will take
place in the Old Quarter during the whole weekend, the Santa María
Cathedral Foundation wants to remind us of how the stonemasons got
their supplies of stone. In collaboration with the Goiena Mountain
Club, with whom it has been organising itineraries on foot from the
Quarries to Vitoria for three consecutive years, it has prepared this
attractive initiative once again this year.
The cart is drawn by two oxen weighing 800 kilograms each which belong
to José Luis Galarza and José Rementería, farmers from Iurreta who will
guide them all the way. They are expected to leave the square in
Mendiola between 11:30 and 12:00, approximately when the group
traveling on foot from Ajarte gets there. From there they will walk to
Dehesa de Olarizu, continuing through Campo de los Palacios, Iturritxu,
Zumabide, Domingo Martínez de Aragón, calle Álava, Aguirre Miramón,
Juan Ibáñez de Santo Domingo, San Antonio, Becerro de Bengoa, Prado,
Virgen Blanca, Mateo Moraza and Cuesta de San Francisco, thus reaching
Plaza del Machete at approximately 14:00 pm. Once there, the stone
blocks, weighing around four hundred kilograms, will be given to a
stonemason who will be carving stone in the square. To add to the
realism, a number of members of the Goiena Mountain Club will be
dressed in traditional clothing.
In addition to watching the group pass by anywhere along the route,
whoever wants to can join in and walk to the Cathedral. It will
undoubtedly be a great attraction for the thousands of people who will
visit the Medieval Market on Saturday.