The philosophy of this Plan is still that of a cross-border cooperation project, of public-private partnership with the aim of preserving, restoring and emphasising the cultural heritage of Zamora and Salamanca provinces and the Portuguese regions of Oporto, Vila Real and Bragança, by means of an agreement that Iberdrola Foundation Spain also has with the Ministry of Culture in Portugal. Works carried out by Castilla and León Regional Government are co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Besides the works carried out in the buildings, the Atlantic Romanesque also seeks the revitalization of the territories where it is developed, thus generating social-economic development, by means of cultural and dissemination actions. Such is the case of the event taking place today at San Martín de Tours church, in Salamanca.
Javier Ortega, Councillor for Culture and Tourism at Castilla and León Regional Government, and Ramón Castresana, Iberdrola Foundation Spain General Director, have signed, in front of Iberdrola Foundation Spain President, the collaboration deal between both entities, designed to give continuity to the Atlantic Romanesque Plan for the following four years (2020-2023)
The agreement was signed during the technical open day at San Martín de Tours church in Salamanca, aiming to contextualize the building within the city and go over the works carried out in the scope of the Plan.
Several representatives of the dioceses of Salamanca and San Martín parish church attended the session, as well as the Regional Government Heritage CEO, Gumersindo Bueno. The agreement reached today by Castilla and León Regional Government and Iberdrola Foundation Spain falls within the scope of the PAHIS Plan 2020 for Castilla and León Cultural Heritage and it is targeted to give continuity to the works that the Atlantic Romanesque Plan has been developing since 2010.
Technical open day
The deformities on columns, arches and vaults of the church three naves, caused by the construction itself and the several restorations made at the building, gave rise to a study about the building construction phases, which included an analysis on its architectural development taken up by several coordinated multidisciplinary teams with the aim of updating the data about this asset of cultural significance, from different perspectives.
The research carried out for two years was aimed to accurately diagnose the present state of the monument in order to deal with its restoration, using all the information available, and thus preserving the heritage legacy it shelters. Some of the experts who carried out the researches explained these processes at the technical session today.
José Luis Martín Martín, holding a doctorate in Medieval History, University of Salamanca, was the responsible for the contextualization of the church within the urban area of the city. Marco Antonio Garcés, an architect at the Heritage General Direction, told us about the working methodology. José Miguel Lorenzo, doctorate in History of Art, has analysed the history of the building covered by the archives. José Ignacio Murillo Fragero, an archaeologist at Urbe pro Urbe, and Rafael Martín Talaverano, doctorate in Architecture, Technical University of Madrid, spoke about the building construction development. Manuel Fortea Luna, doctorate in Architecture and History, University of Extremadura, told us about the study of the structures of the building and finally, Jesús Castillo Oli, an architect at Santa María la Real Foundation, mainly focused his explanation on the building present consolidation works.
