Quick Access in the page
date: 17/05/2012 latest update: 15/05/2012
Report of activities
Picture on the left: Concert by the group Marlango in the portico.Picture on the right: Presentation of the Spanish version of the book "World Without End" by Ken Follett.
Picture on the left: Workshops for children in the Cathedral.Picture on the right: Stonemasonry course in Santa María square.
Visitors on the platform, within the programme "Open for Works".
The restoration of Santa María Cathedral involves a lot more than just the architectural recovery of a 13th century Gothic temple. It also implies a larger project to stimulate the cultural aspect and recover the economic and social realities of the area, including structural and town planning issues, culture, symbolism, tourism, economy, community and functionality. As regards the architectural rehabilitation, significant advances have been achieved. You can read all about it, including the latest news, in the section about Restoration.
Within the cultural and tourist areas, the most relevant is the Programme of Guided Tours to the Cathedral restoration works, "Open for Works", sponsored by the Caja Vital Kutxa, a local bank. Through this initiative, the Gothic temple has quickly become a product in great demand by thousands of visitors and tourists. Proof of the success of this programme is in numbers: over 650.000 visitors since the year 2000.
To enter Santa María Cathedral is to begin a fascinating journey into the past and through history. By going on this historical walk, "the knowledge itinerary", visitors take part in a unique opportunity: observing how the archaeological and restoration works of a 13th century Gothic temple, complex in its structure and rich in testimonies from the past, take place right before their eyes.
The Santa María Cathedral Foundation also develops an intense cultural activity, including congresses, seminars, conferences with prestigious writers, concerts, theatre, workshops and courses on traditional crafts and trades, exhibitions, publications, radio programmes, competitions in storytelling, painting and photography,...
Within the cultural programme, one outstanding cycle is called "Encounters with the Cathedral", and it includes, amongst other events, literary sessions with writers of international prestige such as Ken Follett, Alfredo Bryce Echenique, Antonio Gala, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, José Saramago, Mario Vargas Llosa,...
