The Director General of Cultural Heritage of the Autonomous Government of Castilla y León , Enrique Saiz and the Director General of Iberdrola Foundation , Rafael Landin, were greeted this morning by a projection on the walls of the church of San Martín of Castañeda . The audiovisual, executed by the Santa María la Real Foundation, serves to explain that the work in the building is not yet complete since the on-going monitoring plays a vital role in ensuring the proper maintenance of the temple. The work has been developed under the Atlantic Romanesque Intervention Plan, in which the three institutions, Castile and Leon, Iberdrola Foundation and the Santa María la Real Foundation are involved along with the Secretary of State for Culture of Portugal and the Diocese of Zamora, Astorga, Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo.
The projection is just a small part of the new concept of intervention in heritage which the Atlantic Romanesque Plan is committed to. It goes far beyond mere restoration, providing a comprehensive and efficient management of the buildings.
Thus, in the church of San Martín de Castañeda various activities have taken place where the involvement of both the parish and the residents of the region are paramount. In the first phase of the intervention, the roof was cleaned and repaired. Overall improvement of the roof was achieved thanks to the installation of a ventilation system designed to correct the moisture problem that the building had.
The second phase of the intervention focused on three aspects: architecture, restoration of movable goods and lighting. Without a doubt, one of the most important actions in this phase was the conditioning of the sacristy as a suitable space for worship. To achieve this transformation, not only was the liturgical furniture of the new chapel redesigned, but also heated benches were installed along with a system for automatically opening windows. This ensures the maintenance of hygrothermal suitable conditions. Finally the lighting was improved to facilitate worship in the sacristy, and also to enhance the attractiveness of the building and elements such as the murals located in one of the apses.
Monitoring in real time
While undoubtedly one of the most innovative and important aspects of the project was the installation (as in other buildings included in the Atlantic Romanesque Plan) of the Heritage Monitoring Heritage System, MHS, developed by the Santa María la Real Foundation.
In this particular case , as explained by the director of the Santa María la Real Foundation , Juan Carlos Prieto, monitoring of environmental (temperature and humidity) and structural parameters ( cracking) , began even before restoration work started with the installation of various devices and sensors. The data obtained was used initially to outline the intervention project more wisely and will, in the future, ensure better maintenance and upkeep of the building. This monitoring system was completed with a meteorological station which receives technical support from the University of Madrid.
Atlantic Romanesque Plan
Finally, it is important to remember that this intervention is included in the Atlantic Romanesque Plan. This is a transnational collaboration project for heritage conservation. The following are active partners: The Autonomous Government of Castile and León, the Iberdrola Foundation, Secretary of State for Culture of Portugal, the Santa María la Real Foundation and the Diocese of Zamora, Astorga, Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo.
