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date: 17/05/2012 latest update: 15/05/2012
Purpose of the tours
Guided tours of the Cathedral.
Guided tours of the Cathedral.
Visitors watch the restoration works.
"Open for works": This is the name of the programme, which encompasses the idea behind the guided tours of the restoration of Santa María Cathedral in Vitoria-Gasteiz. The Master Plan proposed a pioneering initiative: to open up the whole physical process of the works to the public. Because of this approach, the tour of the temple becomes a visit to a working site, helmet and all, while respecting all due health and safety regulations. Surprises are guaranteed at this open living project which changes every day, with the tours of the Cathedral following and adapting to the different moments within the development of the works.
The Old Cathedral is today a themed space in which to discover History, Architecture, Archaeology, Culture and Art, with the added attraction of the contents changing as the work advances. The building therefore allows visitors to follow the restoration of a temple that has been weakened and deformed by different structural problems.
Visitors are privileged witnesses of all this process thanks to a Tour Programme that is unique in its approach and its contents. Not only can participants observe the activities and works that are under way, but they can also enjoy a different emotional and intellectual experience, in which the historical building, as well as its other values, can be perceived as a document that can be read and understood like an open book.
These tours feature personalized attention and accurate historical explanations, as well as detailed descriptions of the problems encountered and the restoration solutions found. The possibility of witnessing restoration and archaeological works (with archaeologists and stonemasons, scaffolding and supports) is at the core of an innovative project in the world of cultural tourism.
Thanks to these guided tours, Santa María Cathedral in Vitoria-Gasteiz has become one of the most important tourist attractions of the city and of the Basque Country. The quality of the Tour Programme was recognised by the Basque Government when it awarded the project the Prize for Tourism in 2000.
