And for those that don't read Spanish, here the translation ;-)
Integral restoration of the Berenguela
The Cathedral gets the Government to invest 1.8 million euros, 50% of the total.
The Clock Tower of Santiago Cathedral, popularly known as the Berenguela, will undergo a complete restoration. The central government will provide half of the necessary investment, a total of 1.84 million euros under the 2% Cultural programme promoted by the Ministry of Transport, which has become the main tool of the General State Administration to promote the rehabilitation of heritage.
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The Ministry announced yesterday the list of selected projects. A total of 80.16 million euros will be allocated throughout Spain. Of these, Galicia will receive 4.91 million. In addition to the Berenguela, the restoration of the Torre dos Andrade in Pontedeume, the botanical garden and the carballeira in Caldas de Reis and an action in the cathedral archive in Tui will receive state aid, which will receive the largest amount, 2.2 million euros, 75% of the total.
The Cathedral Foundation had submitted its application for state aid and received the news on Thursday. ‘It is a work of integral restoration, that is to say, it includes all the exterior part (lower body, of medieval origin, and the upper, baroque, the work of Andrade) and the interior (interior rooms, stairs...)’, indicate sources of the entity that manages the Compostelan temple. The rest of the funds to complete the work will have to be provided by the Cathedral itself, and there is still no date for the start of the work.
The Ministry has just taken the first step, but it has yet to award the aid definitively and from there the Cathedral would have to put the work out to tender, award it to a company and then begin the restoration work, which will also include improvements to ‘the clock, machinery and bells, with their yokes’.
The Clock Tower is one of the most emblematic elements of Santiago Cathedral. The name Berenguela comes from an old defensive tower built by Archbishop Berenguel de Landoira in the 14th century, in a turbulent period for the city. But this tower was located in another place, in the area where the Palace of Rajoy now stands, in the Plaza del Obradoiro. The current tower began to be built in 1468 next to the façade of the Platerías. The current appearance of the Clock Tower is mainly Baroque, thanks to the work of Domingo de Andrade in the 17th century. Andrade did not demolish the medieval cube, but used it as a base to build a new tower.
In recent years Santiago Cathedral has undergone major renovations. The Pórtico de la Gloria recovered its polychromy in 2018 after ten years of restoration, the restoration of the interior of the temple and the Baroque façade of the Praza del Obradoiro have also been completed.
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