Architecture
Sections
Highlight
Sections
Highlight
The crypt of the Count of Buenavista in the city's La Victoria basilica, has reopened following major restoration work. The diocese of Malaga reopened the gem of Spanish baroque funerary architecture after it had to be closed five years ago when water damage caused one of its walls to crumble.
Visits can be made from Tuesday to Friday, from 10.30am to 2pm and are free for Malaga residents who must present their ID card. Other visitors must pay a general admission fee of six euros, while it is five euros for senior citizens, four euros for students, three euros for young people and 4.5 euros for groups. Children under the age of 12 and people with a disability of more than 65% can enter for free.
At the end of last year, the company Tarma, under the direction of technical architect Pablo Pastor, carried out the restoration work to restore the unique site to its original 17th century splendour as the pantheon of the Count of Buenavista. The project received a grant of 93,115 euros from the city council.
It took four years of studies, reports and red tape on the part of the local and regional authorities before the diocese of Malaga could restore the crypt under the city's Victoria basilica. The conclusion was the theory from day one, a water issue which was caused by a leak from the toilets of the closed Hospital Doctor Pascual (currently closed), that are located above the burial niches.
The diocese has pressed for these toilets to be removed so there is no repeat of the damage, but this issue depends on the ownership of the hospital or on the regional health ministry, as there are plans to reopen this health facility.
The diocese's work in the crypt started with the removal of the parts of the wall that were impacted by the water leak, however there is concern the issue could occur again. The area was left to dry for a year, once it was confirmed the water leak had stopped, and a new facing was applied to the affected wall using natural hydraulic lime mortar.
All the plaster pieces that simulate skeletons, skulls and baroque leaves have been repositioned. This work was carried out with esparto grass and plaster glue, and also with glass rod anchors in the case of the heavier pieces. Those that were badly damaged by the wall crumbling have been reconstructed in plaster using moulds.
The affected area has recovered the appearance it had before the damage, except that the marble slabs of two burial places occupied since the 1930s have been left exposed.
The repair of the crypt, in which new lighting has also been installed, also included a general cleaning of all the existing decoration on the rest of the walls and the tombs of the counts of Buenavista, as well as the chromatic reintegration of some areas in which the black pigment of the backgrounds was in poor condition, so it has been replaced with graphite with resin. The result is a room in which the contrast between the black of the backgrounds and the white of the decorations has recovered the artistic value with which it was conceived more than two centuries ago.
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Reporta un error en esta noticia
Necesitas ser suscriptor para poder votar.