Inauguration of Splendor Lapidis, Restoration of the Sagrario Church

The exhibition entitled “SPLENDOR LAPIDIS. Restoration work on the Sagrario (Tabernacle) Church of Seville Cathedral 2019 – 2023” was inaugurated in the Vanguardia Hall of the Cajasol Foundation, with the collaboration of the Metropolitan Cathedral Chapter of Seville, which has promoted the work. The set of audiovisual materials prepared will show the public the intervention carried out in the church, bringing closer and disseminating knowledge about our heritage and its conservation.

The works, carried out by our team, were carried out to restore the Sagrario to its original splendor, as it had not been possible to enjoy for many decades due to its deteriorated state of conservation. We began with a specialized ground consolidation operation by means of injections, as the church suffered from settlement failures due to its location very close to the water table, the high level of anthropic fillings and the unequal overhang of the Christian building on the Almohad pre-existences. Intervention was also carried out on its roofs to eradicate filtrations and condensation problems that over the years caused serious damage to the vaults and sculptural groups inside, which were finally treated in their entirety to “restore the splendor of the stone”. The full scope of this comprehensive rehabilitation has also included the restoration of the facade to the courtyard of the orange trees, the renovation of the interior flooring, work in the crypts or improvements in drainage, evacuation and control of aquifers, among others.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by various authorities such as Mr. Antonio Pulido, President of the Cajasol Foundation, Mr. Francisco Ortiz Bernal, Dean President of the Metropolitan Chapter of Seville, Mr. Francisco Román, Delegate of Administration and Patrimony of the Chapter, Mr. Manuel Cotrino, Parish Priest of the Church of El Sagrario, Mr. Jaime Navarro, Architect and Conservator of the Cathedral during the restoration works, Mr. Eduardo Martínez, Architect and Designer of the Cathedral, Mr. Eduardo Martínez, Architect and Designer of the Cathedral, and Mr. Eduardo Martínez, Architect of the Cathedral. Manuel Cotrino, Parish Priest of the Church of El Sagrario, Mr. Jaime Navarro, Architect Curator of the Cathedral during the restoration works, Mr. Eduardo Martínez, Architect Designer of the work, Mr. Jesús Hontiveros, Managing Director of KALAM, as well as numerous members of the media.

In the exhibition, designed with a clear multimedia perspective and didactic vocation, we can find a timeline of the evolution of the Sagrario since its construction, twenty panels explaining the interventions with images of the process and the finish, comments on the studies that were carried out and adaptations of the work to the discoveries made, a large video that reflects the evolution of the work, four screens that show specific interventions, an interactive screen, large photographs, with the background sound of baroque music that transports us to the main nave of the Sagrario. Among these materials, we highlight the recognition given to the participants in the process, in a poster that incorporates and puts a face to the KALAM team, as well as the set of five sculptural pieces from the main altarpiece of the Sagrario Church, made by Pedro Roldán with polychromy and gilding by Valdés Leal, dated 1666 and 1674 respectively, which can be seen up close in a unique opportunity before they return to their place in the altarpiece.

The exhibition will be open to the public from 29 May until 15 June 2024, from Monday to Sunday, including public holidays, from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 18:00 to 21:00.