An intervention that, as the workshop participants could testify, has allowed for the recovery of the access through the north door of the church from the Plaza Mayor. Actually, the situation of the church in the center of a city as touristic as Salamanca, as caused the intervention to be focused in turning the space into an information point and an invitation to visit the territory of the Atlantic Romanesque Plan.
Of romanesque origin, the church of San Martín dates from 1103. Even today, and despite the alterations to its original physiognomy and the fact that it is caged between modern constructions, it is considered one of the city’s most important romanesque buildings.
The historian Fernando Castillo was responsible for giving most of the guided tours and explaining the church’s history to the visitors. After crossing the Northern door, the path, that combines the strength of audiovisuals with a lighting thought to highlight the most emblematic architectonic and sculptural elements, goes on through the Capilla del Conde Grajal and a pathway that ends in the Capilla del Carmen.
It was in this space, the lighting highlights elements such as a richly polychromed romanesque entryway that was concealed during the construction of the mentioned baroque chapel and that was discovered in 1958. Without a doubt, one of the pieces that has stolen the visitors attention the most.
Monitoring and future interventions
Along with the creation of the information point, the monitoring of the temple has been provided, through the installation of sensors in specific points of the building to monitor the space and control its conservation state. The data collected from the sensors will be used to know with accuracy the causes of the church’s structural deterioration and thus approach more effectively the next stages of intervention, starting in 2016.
