Heritage in Action Spain Special 2016 by Europa Nostra

ISSN: 1871-417X EUROPEAN CULTURAL HERITAGE REVIEW SUMMER 2016

EUROPA NOSTRA welcomes and supports the

EUROPEAN YEAR OF CULTURAL HERITAGE 2018 EUROPA NOSTRA represents a rapidly growing citizens’ movement for the safeguarding of Europe’s cultural and natural heritage. Our pan-European network is composed of 240 member organisations (heritage associations and foundations with a combined membership of more than 5 million people), 140 associated organisations (governmental bodies, local authorities and corporations) and also 1100 individual members who directly support our mission. TOGETHER, • we form an important lobby for cultural heritage in Europe; • we celebrate excellence through the European Heritage Awards organised by Europa Nostra in partnership with the European Union; and • we campaign to save Europe’s endangered historic monuments, sites and cultural landscapes.

We are the Voice of Cultural Heritage in Europe

FIT FOR A KING ANCIENT OLIVE TREES CERVANTES, GAUDÍ AND THE WAY OF ST. JAMES GOLD MINES, FLAMENCO AND OTHER UNESCO TREASURES INTERVIEWS WITH PLÁCIDO DOMINGO, EU COMMISSIONER TIBOR NAVRACSICS AND HISPANIA NOSTRA

SPAIN SPECIAL

CALL FOR ENTRIES 2017

SUBMIT YOUR PROJECT AND SHARE YOUR SUCCESS! DEADLINE:1 OCTOBER 2016 More info:www.europanostra.org

The European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards is Europe’s most prestigious accolade in the heritage field. Every year, it honours the most outstanding heritage achievements from all over the continent. It recognises the excellence and dedication by architects, craftspeople, heritage experts, volunteers, schools, local communities and the media.

Published by EUROPA NOSTRA The Voice of Cultural Heritage in Europe European Cultural Heritage Review (May 2016) ISSN:1871-417X President Plácido Domingo Executive President Denis de Kergorlay Secretary-General Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović Editor in Chief Wolter Braamhorst Concept TV Culture

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It stimulates creativity and innovation, through the power of example. In 2017, the awards will be given to up to 30 remarkable heritage projects and initiatives. Seven will be selected as Grand Prix winners, receiving €10,000 each, and one will be given the Public Choice Award.

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Cooperación Española

El Patrimonio Cultural: la esencia del desarrollo de los pueblos El Programa de Patrimonio para el Desarrollo (P>D) de la Cooperación Española: - Mejora las condiciones de vida y crea riqueza. - Favorece el desarrollo de las capacidades culturales. - Preserva las identidades y la diversidad cultural. - Apoya la prevención de daños en el patrimonio en caso de desastres naturales y conflicto armado.

Cooperación Española CULTURA + DESARROLLO / PATRIMONIO

EUROPEAN HERITAGE CONGRESS MADRID, 22-27 MAY 2016

With the Kind Cooperation and Suppor t of:

Congress Co-Organiser:

Congress Par tners, Suppor ters and Associates:

With Special Thanks to:

O ff i c i a l L o g i s t i c s P a r t n e r s :

Welcome By Plácido Domingo, President of Europa Nostra It is my great pleasure to write the welcome message for this Spain Special of our Europa Nostra magazine. This is the country of my birth and of my heart and I am delighted we can share some of its most beautiful and interesting monuments and sites with you. It is impossible to do justice to all of Spain’s tangible and intangible heritage. We could fill libraries with thousands of stories and images and still just scrape the surface of Spain’s rich culture and history. Whether you walk along the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela or explore the ancient coastline of Cadiz, whether you stroll through the streets of Madrid and Barcelona or taste the best the Ebro river delta has to offer, you realise that in Spain cultural heritage is an active and vital part of the daily life of local communities. With its long and culturally diverse history, Spain is – maybe more than any other country in Europe – uniquely poised to show us the way forward. You cannot understand Spain’s cultural heritage without realising how much of it is the result of a complex mixture. Europe is going through a transitional period where questions about identity and culture, religion and history are at the centre of the public debate. Timely questions about who we were, who we are and who we strive to be, need new answers. Europe has been through tough times and we are certainly not out of the woods yet. Young Europeans worry about their future. The older generations worry about their children and grandchildren. Once again Europe is facing some of its old demons, which advocate simple solutions and easy answers in a complicated, globalised world. Europa Nostra therefore fully supports the efforts of the European Union to put culture at the heart of Europe’s policies, including external relations. I strongly believe that we can find the long term answers to Europe’s crisis in our local communities, in our city neighbourhoods, in our villages and provincial towns. These communities are the heart of Europe. This is where we grow up, where we learn our values and norms, where our dreams should be nurtured and our ambitions should be cherished. These communities are under threat and this is where we must start to re-invent the European ideals through education,

culture, art and heritage. Let me say it clearer. Every European should have the right to grow up and live in a decent and inspiring environment. All across Europe we can see new initiatives that prove that restoring local heritage can bring communities and neighbourhoods together. Europa Nostra is therefore delighted that the European Commission, with the support of the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, has announced that 2018 will be the European Year of Cultural Heritage, as explained in the exclusive interview given for our Magazine by EU Commissioner Tibor Navracsics. We can create light in the darkest of times through positive change; step by step, one building at the time, street by street, neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Maybe we should all reread Spain’s national treasure Miguel de Cervantes. This year it is 400 years after his death and we may need his wit and wisdom more than ever. Our windmills may be a lot larger than the ones Don Quixote ever faced, but Donde una puerta se cierra, otra se abre, where one door closes, another one opens. In this magazine you will therefore find many examples of community based projects, where the restoration and conservation of heritage resulted in reviving and invigorating local communities. They have found a new future by rediscovering their past. Many of them are winners of one of our European Heritage Awards. In this Special Edition, we will further visit many other heritage treasures of Spain. We defy gravity in an amazing natural gorge, admire a recently discovered Holy Grail, explore ancient silver, copper and salt mines, walk on Roman walls, wander through the royal palaces and discover the modern architecture of the old Rioja bodegas. This magazine would of course not have been possible without the dedication of our friends of Hispania Nostra, who celebrate their 40th anniversary this year, and the support of the European Union Creative Europe Programme and Bertelsmann SE & Co. KgaA. ¡Bievenidos a España!

COUNTRY DREAMS

Mine 16 All The ancient mining

Fit For A King

Escorial and the 30 ElRoyal Palaces

Treasure 40 National 400 years after the death of Cervantes

in the North 58 Gaudí Architectural treasures

Madrid 62 My Maestro Plácido

Domingo takes us around ‘his’ Madrid de Rey 68 Caminito A gorgeous gorge

Deep Roots Ancient olive trees are changing a community

FEATURE

in the North of Spain

SHORT STORY

sites of Las Médulas and Riotinto

COUNTRY DREAMS

La Palma in the Canary islands

TREASURE

Oasis 08 Luxury Hotel Hacienda De Abajo on

INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE

CONTENTS

CULINARY

country dreams

Long and Winding Road The Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela

102

EU Commissioner Tibor Navracsics European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018

Hispania Nostra 40 years Celebrating Spanish heritage with a major exhibition

PARTNER

134

PARTNER

116

New Message in a Bottle The inspiring stories of Freixenet and Osborne

LIVING HERITAGE

Art of Flamenco Passion on the UNESCO World Heritage list

LIVING HERITAGE

Chateau en Espagna The Alcázar of Seville has many stories to tell

LIVING HERITAGE

SHORT STORY

Articles on community projects are marked with

Homes for the Harvest / 12

Then & Now / 78

The European Family of Music

Tapestry Journalism / 22 ‘The Royal Academy of Cave Painting’ / 26

Nightmares and Dreams / 84

Maestro Jordi Savall receives the Helena Vaz da Silva European Award 2016 / 126

Rebirth / 36 Modern Traditions / 46 Masters of Plaster / 50 Horse And Carriage / 54

The Salt of the Earth / 92 Wonder Walls / 108 Open for Restoration The Cathedral of Vitoria-Gasteiz / 114 The Future of Europe is Culture / 120

A Series of Fortunate Coincidences / 128 Cinematic Heritage / 132 Spanish Heritage in Europe and Abroad / 134 The 7 Most Endangered 2016 / 140

country dreams

Luxury Oasis

Hotel Hacienda De Abajo in a sea of banana trees

“I am never satisfied,” explains Enrique Luis Larroque, the man behind the Hotel Hacienda De Abajo on La Palma in the Canary islands, with a warm and inviting smile. “This hotel is about commitment, passion and dedication. There is always more we can do for our guests. Many people are surprised to find such a first class heritage hotel on the Canaries. Some of our guests hardly leave the premises when they come and stay with us. It is an oasis of peace and quiet on an already tranquil island.”

Enrique Luis Larroque

09 The Canary Islands are volcanic islands and everywhere you cross massive lava fields in various states of vegetation, some covered with a single adventurous tree, other covered in tough lichens. The islands are very fertile but difficult to farm. A museum which tells the eruptive, turbulent history of La Palma is located within the San Antonio volcano in the village of Los Canarios.

The hacienda is comfortably nestled in a green forest of banana plantations in the small historical village of Tazacorte on the sunny side of the island. Before the Canaries went ‘bananas’ (it is their most important agricultural product), they were an important sugar cane producer and the estate started its life in the 17th century as sugar cane mill and factory. The grounds have been in the family for generations, right from the very beginning. “My family is part Flemish, part Spanish. The connections between the rest of Europe, the Caribbean and South America are strong on the island. My family used to ship the sugar to Antwerp in Belgium. The sugar cane industry started to decline in the 19th century and the factory was abandoned and my family moved out. We still had people living here in the beginning of the 20th century, but from the 1960s it was derelict.”

The old hacienda was in an increasingly bad state. The wooden beams were disintegrating, the roofs collapsed and centuries of heritage and traditions were at risk of being lost forever. A family so keen on art and culture could not sit idly by and watch their own history literally fall to pieces. “It was actually my mother’s idea to restore the house and the gardens. My two cousins and I started working on it, but it was very, very tough. It took us ten years to get the necessary permits. It was a frustrating and discouraging process. Spain’s economy was in a bad state. We had to pay for construction materials in advance. Sometimes we had paid and the supplies did not arrive for months. Loans were next to impossible.

Many people left the island to look for work in mainland Spain or in the Americas. Luckily, they are now slowly returning. It was not an easy period.” For a moment his natural smile freezes in dark contemplation.

country dreams

The Library

You would think that in the middle of Spain’s crisis, the family would have simply given up. “We are a strange family in that sense. The more pressure we face, the stronger we hold on to our dreams. We just kept going the best we could. We restored the old buildings, using as much of the original materials as we could. We built new guest-houses, a restaurant and even a chapel. We have now 32 rooms, so there is a maximum of just 64 guests. It is working. It is working well. People have discovered us and word of mouth helps us to grow.”

The hotel feels more like a home than like a business. The family gave up part of their own art collection to decorate the hallways, staircases and rooms. They also travelled across Europe to buy whatever quality antique they could lay their

hands on; more than 1,300 art objects, including the largest collection of tapestries on the islands. It’s like staying in a museum, but with an important difference. The antiques are displayed almost casually, as you would in your own living room. The Flemish, French and Spanish art is mixed with an eclectic collection of religious objects, 7th century Asian sculptures and Chinese export porcelain. Over the centuries many antiques had left the island and the family is happy that they were able to bring some of them back.

11 In some of the Canary Islands the historic landscape has unfortunately lost out to mass-tourism. Uncontrolled development of hotels and resorts have changed the once beautiful surroundings into a messy melange of bad architecture and derelict construction sites.

The Chapel

Interior Chapel

The new structures on the estate are not only decorated with antiques, the buildings themselves are also partially constructed with old materials, giving them a homely, authentic feel. “The interesting thing is that people never damage anything. They are very respectful of the art and antique furniture, just as you would if you visited someone’s house.” He proudly shows the ‘church’, another new-old building which is filled to the brim with antiques and with an altar as authentic as it gets. The building is not consecrated and is used for cultural activities and classical music performances. The old factory building next door is made into a folly, with a caved-in roof, as if it was left the way it was before the restoration. The top floor reading room not only has a wide view of the Atlantic Ocean, it also boasts a massive, relaxing antique bed, surrounded by books and art. No wonder the guests are in the habit of staying within the hacienda’s walls. The gardens are another heritage restoration project. Here the sugar cane plantation used to try out new species to see if

they could endure the La Palma climate. Luis Larroque and his team have researched the history of the gardens and reconstructed its original purpose, resulting in a lush botanical jungle of exotic trees, loved by local birds and butterflies. “Some of the islands aim at masstourism and our hotel is exactly the opposite. It is part of the local community, it generates 25 jobs, our kitchen uses as many local products as we possibly can, from avocados to shellfish, from our own wines to, of course, La Palma bananas. It is sad that my mother did not live to see it. She would have loved how we realised her dream with the family antiques, the gardens, the restaurant en the guest rooms. Her portrait hangs in the dining room, so we feel she is always near, watching over us.” The restoration and adaptation of the historic sugar factory into the 5-star Hotel Hacienda De Abajo had multiple historical, social and economic benefits. The project received a Hispania Nostra Award for Good Practice and Economic Regeneration in 2014.

La Palma tries to stay ahead of the curb. Traditions are important here. More than on the larger islands, there is still a strong sense of community. The roughly 56,000 inhabitants want to keep their home safe from masstourism and everywhere on the island you can find thriving traditions, local festivities and small businesses which sell their own produce. An exemplary aspect of the community coming together to protect the island is the Heredamiento de las Haciendas de Argualy Tazacorte. The organisation of about 2,000 local land owners has been active since the 16th century and is responsible for about 5,000 hectares of the magnificent Caldera de Taburiente, a collapsed volcano of extraordinary importance for the water regulation of the island. Even then the community realised that the risk of deforestation – the sugar can plantations and factories needed a lot of fire wood – would be disastrous in the long run. No trees, no water, no life. The caldera in now a National Park at the request of the local community and is still privately owned. The organised walks along the caldera’s brim are one of the most spectacular in Europe.

Photo by Michael Apel

her覺tage 覺n danger

Homes for the Harvest

At first glance it seems as if a large collection of stone coffins from some dark crypt were dragged into the bright, crispy sunlight of the Northwest of Spain and then put on stilts. The stone structures (although some of them are made of wood) are sometimes adorned with crosses and colourful side-panels, which on closer inspection are open to the constant breeze coming in from the Atlantic. There are literally thousands of them, dotted across the green and lush landscape, usually next to a historic farm as a sort of horizontal outhouse. The grain depositories created to keep the harvest safe from pests and fungi are impressive as well as attractive landmarks

of 400 years of agricultural development. They are concentrated in a relatively small territory in the northwest of Spain. They are iconic and characteristic, but over the years they have lost their use. Admittedly, they are solid storage facilities which can be perfectly used as a garden shed and they often are, but over time more and more were no longer maintained. It was estimated that there once used to be more than 60,000, but most had been lost by the beginning of the 21st century. This unique heritage was in danger of disappearing

forever, crumbling away one by one. Some members of the local community luckily understood that something had to be done to stop this slow but irreversible process. A study was launched to document what was still there and to retrieve the knowledge of the design and construction. Exhaustive field and experimental research was conducted to understand how the architecture, the geometry and spatial orientation of these granaries on stilts helped to achieve their exceptional

her覺tage 覺n danger

Some granaries are derelict

efficiency as storage facilities. Over 5,000 granaries were documented. The work was carried out between 2001-2011 and in 2013 The Granaries on Stilts: the Ancient Art of Building with Nature from Castropol won the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards in the research category. Travelling through the northwest of Spain, from Vigo to Castropol, once you have adjusted your eyes to seeing them, thousands of granaries can be discovered. A beautiful collection can be found in the centre of Combarro, near Pontevedra. The granaries are

located along the bay, directly on the coastline, sometimes with their stilts even in the water, like tiny holiday houses. Thanks to the extensive research, a first step has now been taken

to preserve these appealing and somehow touching structures for the future. They may no longer store grain, but, even more importantly, they still store the memories and traditions of the local communities.

ındustrıal herıtage

All Mine The ancient mining sites of Las Médulas and Riotinto Spain is a country exceptionally rich in ores and minerals. From the north to the south, man’s hunger for raw materials has left deep scars in the landscape. Many regions and communities were dramatically transformed by the mining industries.

Las Médulas

Some mines have been abandoned for centuries, others have been in continuous operation for thousands of years. We discover two exceptional sites. The Romans left Las Médulas in the north of Spain 1,700 years ago. The area is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Riotinto, in contrast, is still very much in operation. The area is on UNESCO’s tentative list and won a EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards in 2003.

Las Médulas From an observation post high on the mountain-range we are looking at an immense disaster area. Spiky red rocks emerge from the green forest, almost like an ancient ruined city from a fantasy novel. From the summit of the snowy tops we can detect water channels all the way down to the deep mineshafts that have changed the rock-face into botched up and dramatic scenery. The technique the Romans used was extremely destructive and even though the mines have been deserted for such a long time, the landscape still looks like a modern sculpture made by giants.

Local village

For years Europa Nostra has been advocating for Roșia Montană, an ancient gold mining district in Romania. This unique landscape is under threat of being lost forever due to plans to re-open the mines. Roșia Montană was placed on Europa Nostra’s 7 Most Endangered List. Please follow the latest developments on our website. An important aspect of the discussion was to prove that sustainable development was possible. Other European mining sites have similar stories and challenges and they are all on the UNESCO World Heritage List: Las Médulas in Spain; Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape in the UK; and Idrija in Slovenia.

ındustrıal herıtage

Pliny the Elder wrote in The Natural History an interesting paragraph on the gold mine of Las Médulas and the so-called ruina montium (mountain destruction) technique the Romans used.

Roman water channels lead down from the snowy mountains

A kind of potter’s clay mixed with gravel, ‘gangadia’ by name, which it is almost impossible to overcome. This earth has to be attacked with iron wedges and hammers like those previously mentioned, and it is generally considered that there is nothing more stubborn in existence— except indeed the greed for gold, which is the most stubborn of all things. When these operations are all completed, beginning at the last, they cut away the wooden pillars at the point where they support the roof: the coming downfall gives warning, which is instantly perceived by the sentinel, and by him only, who is set to watch upon a peak of the same mountain. By voice as well as by signals, he orders the workmen to be immediately summoned from their labours, and at the same moment takes to flight himself. The mountain, rent to pieces, is cleft asunder, hurling its debris to a distance with a crash which it is impossible for the human imagination to conceive; and from the midst of a cloud of dust, of a density quite incredible, the victorious miners gaze upon this downfall of Nature. Nor yet even then are they sure of gold, nor indeed were they by any means certain that there was any to be found when they first began to excavate, it being quite sufficient, as an inducement to undergo such perils and to incur such vast expense, to entertain the hope that they shall obtain what they so eagerly desire. Another labour, too, quite equal to this, and one which entails even greater expense, is that of bringing river from the more elevated mountain heights, a distance in many instances of one hundred miles perhaps, for the purpose of washing these debris.

weakened mountain imploded. The gold could then be filtered out of the river of gravel and debris that was left.

Mineshaft

Las Médulas did not use slave labour, as was the case elsewhere. Here the local population toiled day in, day out to pay the region’s tribute to the tax collectors of the Roman Empire. They slowly hacked their way into the pebbly rock, actually a petrified riverbed. Corridor after corridor, they created a spider web of tunnels to undermine the mountain. Here there were no gold nuggets. The gold dust was so small that it needed to be separated chemically. The water was let into the tunnels with great force, the man-made tunnels collapsed under the pressure and the

Las Médulas was the largest opencast gold mine of the Roman Empire, but its yield was always disappointing. In total it generated over 4 million kilos of gold, but that was not nearly lucrative enough. After 190 years, the Romans gave up and moved to greener and more profitable pastures, leaving the local community to deal with their completely ruined valleys and mountains. For 1,700 years not much happened. The poor inhabitants got by on selling chestnuts and herding cattle. But slowly Las

Médulas became recognised as a very unique and even attractive landscape. Time may not heal all wounds, but visitors started coming in and the local community began to flourish as a result of it. Projects to restore nature and wildlife and accessibility to the whole region were improved. Las Médulas and the new visitor’s centre now welcome more than 100,000 visitors a year. The site is only closed in January when the snow makes access to the ancient mineshafts impossible. The community has even revitalised the chestnut tree cultivation, creating their own line of products. Some of these trees are hundreds of years old and are a pefect example of living heritage. It may have taken 1,700 years, but the ancient disaster area is finally turning a profit for the local community.

Riotinto The Romans also had a big impact on the development of the Riotinto copper (and some silver and gold) mines in the south of Spain, roughly an hour’s drive northwest of Seville. It is hard to describe the region, but maybe the fact that

Ancient chestnut Las Médulas Museum

Riotinto Museum

Riotinto

ındustrıal herıtage

Bella Vista village

The mine’s profits went up and down with the world markets and sometimes for years parts of the region were deserted. On some of the hills we can discover 19th century and early 20th century ghost towns where once foreign mining families had their homes. The mine was recently inactive for a few years once again, but now the RioTinto company is back in full swing. They started in 1873, when they re-opened the ancient copper mines. In that era the English had a large impact on industrial development in Europe and around the globe and it is therefore no wonder that it was an English company that re-opened the mines of the Rio Tinto. The English engineers who worked in the mine lived in their own community, separated from the Spanish workers. They even had their own village, Bella Vista. This charming colonial town still has its Presbyterian church. One of the houses is now a museum.

Abandoned village

The Riotinto heritage train

astrobiologists from NASA use it to research the conditions on the planet Mars, may give an indication. This is landscape on a monumental scale. It is an immense canvas on which God and man have created a multilayered painting of breathtaking colours. Layer after layer of earth has been removed, leaving deep elliptical craters that look like a lost set of Alien. The Rio Tinto (red river), which slowly makes its way along alternatively stripped and green

hills, is a river of blood. Literally, as the Romans used slaves, chained grown-ups and children to work in the extremely hazardous and dangerous mines. It is a surreal landscape that fascinates and fuels the imagination. 85,000 visitors a year discover this impressive and unique heritage site. The Parque Minero Riotinto was set up in 1992. The Museo Monero y Ferroviario (local museum of the mines and the

railroads), housed in a former British hospital, shows the history of the region in an accessible way. To explore the old mines and their surroundings, it is best to take the special historic train the museum maintains. Following the twists and turns of the red river, the carriages slowly make their way through panoramic scenery out of a dream or a nightmare, depending on mood and weather. It is a sight one does not easily forget.

Pupils at the Rio Tinto

treasure

Arsila tapestries

Tapestry Journalism In the late 15th century there were few options to get your successes out to the world. European movable type printing technology was making its way across the continent, but it was still a brand new development. Of course there were paintings and etchings, but the court of Portuguese King Afonso V decided that his glorious victories in Morocco in 1471 should be immortalised in a completely new way.

Detail Conquest of Tangier

Tapestries were usually used for mythological subjects of biblical allegories, but the Flemish weavers of Tournai were able to create a series of expressive, in a sense journalistic tapestries, on which all the different actions and happenings of Afonsoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s African campaign were captured in something like a composite collage. The series of four large tapestries of approximately 40m2 are an example of Royal PR as it had not been seen before. The magnificent and mindbogglingly detailed rendering of the conquering of Arsila and Tangier is a miracle of 15thcentury weaving technology and they are considered to be the finest Gothic tapestries in existence. The second half of the 15th century was a turbulent period of great transitions. In 1453

the Ottomans conquered Constantinople, officially ending the Roman Empire. A year before Pope Nicholas V had given King Afonso V a special mandate to deal with the perceived threat of Islam. The statement unfortunately proves that blatant bigotry is of all ages and all peoples. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We grant you by these present documents, with our Apostolic Authority, full and free permission to invade, search out, capture, and subjugate the Saracens and pagans and any

other unbelievers and enemies of Christ wherever they may be, as well as their kingdoms, duchies, counties, principalities, and other property and to reduce their persons into perpetual servitude.â&#x20AC;? Strengthened by a sense of religious duty, King Afonso attacked the coastal cities of Arsila and Tangier near the entrance of the Strait of Gibraltar in 1471. In this way he could gain control over the maritime traffic between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. Arsila fell first, followed two days later by

Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Pastrana Interior church

treasure

Detail Landing at Arsila Detail Assault on Arsila Detail Conquest of Tangier

Tangier. The strait would stay under Portuguese control until 1661. The four tapestries that were woven to commemorate his victory, the Landing at Arsila, Siege of Arsila, Assault on Arsila and The Conquest of Tangier are filled with many particularities of the battles. One can easily spend an hour or two looking at all the decisive moments that were woven into the story. The weavers had no idea what a Moroccan city would look like, so they took their inspiration from their own environment in Flanders. The horses and armour, the banners and insignia are all shown in great

detail. We can even see refugees fleeing the city: one woman is carrying her three children to safety (see page 22 bottom left). Nowadays the tapestries can be seen in the city of Pastrana (Guadalajara) in a new museum

The Tapestry Hall of the Royal Alcรกzar of Seville shows the conquest of Tunis by the Emperor Charles V in 1535. There are similarities in approach and scope with the Pastrana tapestries. Charles V even took artist Jan Vermeyen with him on campaign and he was later, with Pieter Coeck van Aelst, responsible for the designs of the tapestries. The series presently on display in the Royal Alcรกzar is a copy made in 1740 at the Royal Tapestry Factory of Madrid.

which is part of the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption. It is slightly unclear how the tapestries ended up in Spain. Were they the spoils of war or a precious gift? In 2011 the restoration of the tapestries won an EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards. They have been restored by a Belgian company with the financial support of Belgian and Spanish institutions, based on a multidisciplinary research project with experts from different European institutions. The regional government of Castille-La Mancha helped to create the new museum.

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archaeology

26 Every year 35,000 schoolchildren, almost 15% of the total amount of visitors, visit the neo-cave and learn the skills of the prehistoric humans who created the Altamira cave art. The museum also actively engages the local community with an open day for the public where people can experience the cave art using bone marrow lamps to recreate the cave’s atmosphere 15,000 years ago. The tourists have had a tremendous effect on the nearby medieval village of Santillana del Mar, which has now revitalised its heritage and restored its monuments thanks to the large numbers of visitors who visit the Altamira region.

‘The Royal Academy of Cave Painting’ The famous master of modern sculpture Henry Moore (18981986) visited the Altamira Cave paintings in 1934 on a motorbike trip along the coastal road in northern Spain with his wife and friends. He called it a ‘Royal Academy’ as he was deeply impressed with the colourful and often sculptural cave art. Neo-cave in the Altamira museum

He was not the only artist who was captured by the lively images of animals, figures and forms that often cleverly follow the line and protrusions of the rock face to give them volume and depth. According to a popular tradition, Picasso (18811973), on leaving the cave, said that “after Altamira, everything is decadence.” The drawings are deceptively simple in nature,

but the subtle variations in intensity of the colours, betray the hand of a master. It was in a sense the extraordinary quality of the Altamira Cave images that made archaeologists suspicious of their origins. Its discovery was the result of a string of coincidences. The dog of a hunter named Modesto Peres

dropped into the cave by accident during a fox-hunt. The owner of the land, Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola, was not impressed by the man’s story, as the area was known for its caves. However, a few years later he developed a taste for cave exploration and archaeology. He started to investigate the Altamira Cave with more interest and discovered it was

full of proof of prehistoric human activity. His young daughter María found all this very exciting and one day in 1879 when she walked with a small light into one of the cave’s unexplored corridors, she came running back shouting ‘Toros, toros’. The archaeologists were fast to dismiss the finds when they were made public in 1880. Prehistoric man was still seen as a rough, heavy-jawed simpleton, only capable of scraping bones or grunting indiscriminately. These crude ancestors could not possibly be responsible for anything as sophisticated as the cave art of Altamira. The scientists as well as religious leaders came down on Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola as a pack of bloodthirsty hounds, accused him of fraud and did everything in their power to discredit him. Only in 1902, when even the staunchest opponents had to admit they had been terribly

wrong, was his reputation restored. He did not live long enough to see his great discovery acknowledged by the academic world. He died at age 57 in 1888. The caves were dug out deeper to allow visitors to see the art from a more comfortable perspective. The prehistoric artists who made the images never thought that their work would be admired by many. The original floor of the cave was so close to the ceiling that it was not possible to stand back and philosophically muse about herds of animals or the mysteries of life. The painters created their art up close in a very confined space by the light of a small flickering oil lamp, which surely must have added to the liveliness of the colourful and flowing images. Nobody knows why these paintings and engravings were created, although many and often wild

The bittersweet story of the discovery of the Altamira Cave and its aftermath is the subject of Altamira, which has been released in April 2016, directed by Hugh Hudson and starring Antonio Banderas.

Besides Altamira, Spain has two other prehistoric sites which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

archaeology

The Paleolithic rock art of Siega Verde in Salamanca was added to the Portuguese site of the Côa Valley site in 2010. The archaeological site of Atapuerca is an exceptional example of continuous human occupation. What may be the oldest European ever found (1.2 million years) was uncovered here. The site – inscribed on the list in 2000 – is still being excavated and new, often spectacular discoveries are being made on a regular basis.

Entrance to the orginal cave Altamira Museum

theories have been put forward by scientists and inspired amateurs alike. In the 20th century hundreds of thousands of tourists started to flock to the north of Spain to see this prehistoric marvel, often adding their own markings while smoking cigarettes or eating snacks. Microbial populations, which were endemic to the caves, became more active with these large groups of human beings and started to multiply at an alarming rate. The fragile paintings were in danger of being destroyed from the inside out. The cave was closed in 1979, reopened in 1981 for a maximum of 8,500 visitors a year under strict supervision, closed again

in 2002 and is now once again re-opened for a maximum of 5 visitors a week. In the future this may be raised to 10 visitors a week, depending on closely monitored conditions. It is clear that this cannot be a solution for the 250,000 visitors a year that make the journey to Altamira. For that purpose a neo-cave was created, painstakingly copying the real cave walls with digital scanning technics. Artists were invited to recreate as accurately as possible the same art, using the same techniques. The result is a precise replica of the original cave as it must have looked 15,000 years ago. The art was created by nomadic tribes in

the Late Stone Age (Upper Palaeolithic), roughly between 11,000 and 19,000 years ago. Recently however, new research using the Uranium-Thorium dating method has opened a whole new chapter of the history of Altamira. In 2008, British scientists estimated that some of the artwork was between 25,000 and 35,000 years old. And there are still many discoveries to be made. The UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Altamira cave has been extended to include seventeen caves found along the mountains of North Spain near the Atlantic coast. Marcelino de Sautuola would be very pleased indeed.

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treasure

Fit For A King El Escorial and the Royal Palaces

Royal Palace Madrid

Alfredo Pérez de Armiñán, ex-Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO and current President of Patrimonio Nacional is clear and decisive about the pressures that face some of the sites under his supervision.

His beautiful office in the Royal Palace is quiet, despite the fact that around the corridor, thousands of visitors a day make their way through the Royal corridors and magnificent rooms, decorated with Europe’s finest works of art. “There is much pressure from illegal building, from new construction sites and developments. And once it is built it is very difficult to get rid of it again. One of the most

difficult elements to preserve in the heritage sites we maintain, is to secure and maintain the historic connection between the palaces, monasteries and parks and their natural environment. On many sites you can take a photograph on which it seems that that connection still exists, in reality, there is probably only one viewpoint where you can take that photo. Luckily this is not the case for all sites.”

The duties of the Patrimonio Nacional are complex and many. Officially the properties are for use and service of His Majesty the King and the members of the Royal Family in performing the representative role assigned to them by the Constitution and Spanish law. Patrimonio Nacional however also has the duty to maintain, restore, research and exhibit. Pérez de Armiñán: “We facilitate as much as possible public access to the sites, parks and collections. At the same time

we also support the use of the properties by the Royal Family. It is of course a balancing act. We have annually three million visitors for all our sites. Our responsibility covers eight Royal Palaces, five Royal country residences, ten Royally founded monasteries and convents, woodlands, forests and farmland, historic gardens, including in total 154 hectares of World Heritage Cultural landscapes. The Royal Palace in Madrid is the most popular with 1.3 million.”

San Lorenzo de El Escorial Courtyard El Escorial Hallway El Escorial

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Courtyard El Escorial

The Royal Palace in Madrid is a huge testament and visible expression of Spain’s power during the colonial era. The first Bourbon King of Spain, Philip V, had it built in 1734 after a great fire. The Italian architects were ordered to use as little wood as possible to prevent such a disastrous fire from ever happening again. It is a magnificent building with the famous Hall of Columns, (where the Spain’s treaty of Accession to the European Union was signed in 1985) and the impressively decorated Throne Room. Each monarch brought his or her own taste to the Palace: Charles IV loved French furniture, Ferdinand III liked candelabras and clocks,

Queen regent Maria Cristina adored English parks. “We would welcome a better spread of the visitors numbers but in some of our more remote locations, that poses a real challenge. We still think we can increase the amount of visitors to the Royal Palace. We are in the process of building a new museum to the side of the Palace to be able to show more of the collections that are also under our care. We also now, for the first time, exhibit modern art in the Royal Palace, from the private collection of the Royal Family.” The collections of Patrimonio Nacional are one of the most

The Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is understandably a UNESCO World Heritage site. The landmark building of King Philip II, designed by architect Jean Bautista de Toledo was completed in 1584 and it is the prime example of the Spanish Golden Age. It is a symbol of the King as God’s representative on earth, dedicated to Catholicism. It is a testament to the dynastic alliances and aspiration of the Spanish Crown and the links with the Americas.

The Royal site of El Pardo was residence of General Francisco Franco from 1940-1975. Since Franco’s death, it has been used as a residence for visiting heads of state. The Palace of Zarzuela forms part of the complex of residences at the site and is the home of the former King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Sofia. Closely by live HM King Felipe VI and HM Queen Letizia. The Royal Site of Aranjuez is the Royal springtime residence, which is an abundantly lively place. The gardens were started by nature-enthusiast Philip II and further developed over a course of three centuries with innovative horticultural and design ideas. Since 2001 an annual music festival is organised. The site is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The Royal Pantheon, which is in use since Philip IV, lies at the end of a long and narrow stony staircase, which leads deep down into the bowels of the building, directly underneath the high altar. The crypt is an introspective circular space where most of the Spanish kings have found their final resting place in identical stone coffins, layered along the red stoned walls, with gilded plaques with their names. In the adjoining rooms, the white rectangular coffins of the extended Royal Family fill corridor after corridor. The many visitors, who can be shamefully without respect in some heritage sites, are at their best behavior and even resist taking a selfie. El Escorial is not just a Royal Palace, it is also a monastery, college, seminary and library.

Landscape surrounding El Escorial El Escorial in 1850

Hieronymite monks used to pray continuously for the salvation of Charles V, Philip II and their successors. Now the monastery is run by Augustinian monks. With its Renaissance style gardens, the vast estate of La Herrería stretches far beyond the gardens into the wider countryside. Philip V was born and bred in Versailles, France and had the dream of creating a similar beautiful palace in Spain. He found his ideal location on the ancient hunting grounds of what is now The Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso. In 2010 it was

awarded the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards for the Town Council’s effort to revitalise the region and connect with the local community. The Royal Palace and Forest of Riofrío was built on an unique location in the middle of the countryside. It rises like a pink square mountain from the green farmlands, with the snow-topped mountains for additional dramatic effect. It is an important hunting reserve and forest with ash, oak and holm oak and herds of fallow and red deer.

Left The Royal site of El Pardo (photo by Choniron) Above The Royal Site of Aranjuez (photo by Fernando García)

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Painted ceiling El Escorial

important bodies of cultural assets in the world. Most of the paintings were entrusted to the Prado Museum in 1868. There is however enough art left for Pérez de Armiñán and his team to choose from: from the armour collection (including those of Charles V and Emperor Maximilian), the hundreds of carriages, the 3,000 tapestries, the 5,000 sculptures, the 12,000 pieces of silver and even the 2 violins, a viola and two violoncellos made by Stradivarius. Each of the Royal Palaces and other monuments also have there own priceless collections. The Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial for instance has a large collection of Flemish tapestries and

paintings by El Greco, Titian, Bosch, Tintoretto, Veronese and Velázquez. The library contains Visigothic Codices, 2,000 Arabic manuscripts, 75,000 books and over 20,000 documents. “We are supported through the national budget, but we still

he Royal Palace of La Almudaina (phot0 by Antoni I. Alomar Canyelles)

The Royal Palace of La Almudaina is located at Palma de Mallorca, an ideal summer holiday residence. It has the oldest origins, dating back to the 2nd century when it started its life as a Roman fort.

manage to generate 21% of our own budget, which is quite high considering the heritage that is entrusted to us. We do the work with about 1,500 people. The challenges are enormous and the financial resources are limited. In our natural heritage sites for instance, we are constantly busy with reforestation, species control and the sustainable use of water resources. Our Palaces, monasteries and convents need constant conservation and restoration,” explains Pérez de Armiñán. “Having said that, being able to care for some of the most extraordinary monuments in the world, is a very rewarding responsibility and a daily pleasure.”

The Convent of Santa María la Real de Huelgas (photo by Zarateman)

considered the oldest royal palace in Europe still in use for its original purpose. Recently the Alcázar became even more famous as the Water Gardens palace of the Kingdom of Dorne, home to Prince Doran of Martell in the hit tv-series Game of Thrones.

During the 19th century, disentailment laws led to the expulsion of most religious communities and only few survived. The Convent of Santa María la Real de Huelgas, was founded in 1187 as an abbey for Cistercian nuns and burial place for the royal family of Castile. The chapter house of the monastery is now home to the Museum of Mediaeval Fabrics, while the religious community continues its life of prayer and work. The upper floor of The Alcázar in Seville is still the residence of the Spanish monarchs whenever they visit the city. It is Game of Thrones

cıty dreams

Rebirth Many European cities have faced radical transformations over the last 50 years and Málaga is no exception. The traditional factories closed their doors when businesses moved overseas, the fishing industry all but disappeared and new opportunities were not yet utilised to the full. The crisis of 2008 posed even more challenges.

View of Malaga from the Parador de Málaga Gibralfaro Aduana palace, new home of the Museum of Málaga

According to the specialists however, change for the better is slowly coming and much of that has to do with the foundations that have been laid through slow but sure investments. Over many different administrations the city has started an exemplary cycle of change for the better. Málaga has now become a hub for new industries, a silicon valley of Spain, and has at the same revitalised its old industries. New high-speed trains have placed Seville, Granada and Madrid within easy reach. And the city has smartly invested in its heritage and its heritage sites. Gone are the days that the pedestrians had to be ready to jump to safety in the narrow streets overcrowded with cars and motorcycles. Now the tourists stroll along the marbled

tree-lined shopping streets from one cultural attraction to the next, many of them beautifully restored. From the well-located Parador de Málaga Gibralfaro, one of the famous Spanish heritage hotels, located on the hill above the historic Moorish Alcazaba fortifications, you have a perfect

view over the city areas that have been transformed. Nearby is the newly restored Aduana palace, an old custom house, which is now the new home of the Museum of Málaga. Far in the distance we see the industrial brick chimneys of the old factories along the coastline. In one of them, the tobacco factory, the machines have been replaced

Picasso Museum Picasso in front of his Foundation

by the historic car collection of the Málaga Automobile Museum. On the left is the new harbour front, with shops and galleries and the colourful Centre Pompidou Málaga. Next to it is a residential area with the imposing villas of the 19th century industrialists. Elsewhere in the city, art has taken centre stage. Málaga’s most famous son refused to ever set to foot in Spain again during the Franco regime, but now Pablo Picasso’s birth house has been converted in the study and research centre of the Picasso Foundation. The old Jewish quarter is now part of the Picasso Museum, consisting of the Buenavista Palace and multiple interconnected houses around small squares and along narrow alleyways. The 2011 Carmen Thyssen Museum was established in a series of historic buildings and the old trade

The new harbour area Many Spanish cities are actively restoring and preserving their cultural heritage and use culture as a central theme for their future strategy. In 2009 the Fundación de la Comunidad Valenciana Luz de las Imágenes (Light of the Images), which celebrates more than 15 years of passionate dedication to the restoration of Valencia’s historic and artistic heritage, won an European Heritage Award. The Foundation’s objective is to promote cultural heritage in such a way that the local community comes to recognise it as part of their own identity. The Foundation has restored more than 2,000 works of art and heritage and more than thirty buildings including some of the region´s most important heritage sites such as the Cathedrals of Valencia, Segorbe, Orihuela and Alicante.

cıty dreams

Paradores of Spain In 1910 the Spanish government assigned the Marquis de la Vega Inclan the task of creating a hotel infrastructure, something that was practically non-existent in Spain at the time. The network of hotels should house travellers and improve Spain’s image abroad. The characteristics of hospitality should be harmoniously integrated with the restoration of castles, palaces and convents, rescuing these sites from ruin and abandonment. The first Parador opened in 1928. Today there are over 90 Paradores located throughout the Spanish countryside and in the historical cities. Many also feature the best restaurants, specialising in regional gastronomy.

Parador of Santiago de Compostela

Centre Pompidou Málaga

Centro de Arte Contemporáneo

Mediterranean cruise ships are seen as a potential threat to many heritage cities; Venice in Italia, Dubrovnik in Croatia and Kotor in Montenegro to name but a few. But Málaga has just opened a new terminal to welcome tens of thousands of guests in the city. The town can deal with large groups of visitors, which seem to vanish without a trace in the maze of historic streets and squares.

Roman amphitheatre with the Alcazaba in the background

market was converted into the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, the city’s leading gallery for modern art. Another oldfashioned market is now a popular eatery with its collection of small restaurants with local and organic products. For a long time the space next to the Alcazaba was occupied by

modernist buildings which the Franco regime refused to take down. But now, after a long-term restoration, we can once again see the Roman heritage of the city at the foot of the hill. The Roman Theatre and the garumpools (favourite and very smelly Roman fish sauce) are impressive ruins that have now been opened to the public.

And the city is ready for more with a new subway extension and the overhaul of the harbour area. The city post office in the brutalist style may become a hip hotel and the old lighthouse will probably be turned into a restaurant. Málaga is ready for its close-up once again.

short story

Portrait of Cervantes by Juan de Jauregui y Aguilar (1583 – 1641)

Don Quixote by Salvador Dalí

National Treasure When famous authors – from Milan Kundera to Salman Rushdie, from John Irving to Doris Lessing – were asked* about the “best and most central work in world literature,” one book received 50 percent more votes than any other, Don Quixote. The fact that a 400 year old book could still hover at the very top of today’s lists, prooves that Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (15471616) did not just write a bestseller, but that he captured the essence of human nature, unchanged through the centuries, as valid now as it was then.

And according to the Spanish experts, the international readers of translations can only catch a glimpse of the genius of the multi-layered twists and turns in Don Quixote’s language. This year Spain remembers the fact that their national literary treasure died 400 years ago with an array of exhibitions, publications, studies and documentaries. Cervantes probably would have enjoyed the attention and the irony of being celebrated at the highest level. Last year, his grave was timely rediscovered in the Trinitarias Descalzadas monastery in Madrid. Ironically, the bullet wounds he sustained at the battle at Lepanto (1571), which had left him with a crippled hand and fractured ribs, helped the researchers to identify him. Cervantes’ life could be called challenging on many levels. He grew up a bookish child in Alcalá de Henares, a lively university town not far from Madrid. The UNESCO World Heritage city now features a pleasant and colourful museum, dedicated to the author and his works. However, it was probably what ill-informed romantics would call ‘his adventurous life’ after he left Alcalá, which gave him the capacity to create the colourful characters of the Don Quixote books. After working as a chamber assistant to a cardinal in Rome, he enlisted as a soldier, was shot and later kidnapped and jailed, he was bought free, worked as a tax collector, was imprisoned for fraud and finally achieved literary success very late in life, in 1605, when he was 58. The Ingenious Hidalgo

Don Quixote of La Mancha (El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha) was a runaway bestseller, much to the surprise of the author. None of his other literary works came close to the popularity of the two books he published on the world’s favourite ‘knight’ and his loyal help. He was a somewhat reluctant creative father to his fictional stars Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, but he nonetheless mused in

Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in Madrid Don Quixote by Picasso

42 short story

Alcalá de Henares

You know that our first impressions are never erased. We carry our past within us, and we feed off it throughout our lifetime. Whenever I analyze my own inner core, I always find the same thing: Don Quixote. Gustav Flaubert (1821 -1880)

the epilogue that “for me alone was Don Quixote born, and I for him; it was his role to act, mine to write.” Maybe the most famous lines from Don Quixote are:

“Look there, Sancho Panza, my friend, and see those thirty or so wild giants, with whom I intend to do battle and kill each and all of them, so with their stolen booty we can begin to enrich ourselves. This is noble, righteous warfare, for it is wonderfully useful to God to have such an evil race wiped from the face of the earth” “What giants?”asked Sancho Panza. “The ones you can see over there,” answered his master, “with the

DonQuixote in front of his museum

huge arms, some of which are very nearly two leagues long.” “Now look, your grace,” said Sancho, “what you see over there aren’t giants, but windmills, and what seems to be arms are just their sails, that go around in the wind and turn the millstone.” “Obviously,”replied Don Quixote,“you don’t know much about adventures.” The author had no problem in writing a preface about writing a preface...

“For I can tell you, though composing it cost me some labour, I found none greater than the making of this Preface you are now reading. Many times did I take up my pen to write it, and many did I lay it down again, not

Of all the beautiful individuals in Christian literature, one stands out as the most perfect, Don Quixote. But he is beautiful only because he is ridiculous. Dickens’ Mr. Pickwick (who is, as a creative idea, infinitely weaker than Don Quixote but still gigantic) is also ridiculous but that is all he has to captivate us. Wherever compassion toward ridiculed and ingenious beauty is presented, the reader’s sympathy is aroused. The mystery of humor lies in this excitation of compassion. Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881)

Catalan donkeys are now a rare breed

The restoration of historic windmills have won heritage awards across Europe. In Spain, the restoration of the windmills of Mota del Cuervo (Cuenca) won an Europa Nostra award in 1994. In 1995, the inventory and restorations of the windmills of Mallorca won an Europa Nostra award.

knowing what to write. One of these times, as I was pondering with the paper before me, a pen in my ear, my elbow on the desk, and my cheek in my hand, thinking of what I should say, there came in unexpectedly a certain lively, clever friend of mine, who, seeing me so deep in thought, asked the reason; to which I, making no mystery of it, answered that I was thinking of the Preface I had to make for the story of Don Quixote, which so troubled me that I had a mind not to make any at all, nor even publish the achievements of so noble a knight.” Cervantes is seen as a prime example of the Golden Age of Spanish culture. Don Quixote however had a very different

Golden Age in mind when he held up a mirror to Spanish society in the 1600s.

(…) When Don Quixote had quite appeased his appetite

he took up a handful of the acorns, and contemplating them attentively delivered himself somewhat in this fashion: “Happy the age, happy the time, to which the ancients gave the name of golden, not because in that fortunate age the gold so coveted in this our iron one was gained without toil, but because they that lived in it knew not the two words “mine” and “thine”! In that blessed age all things were in common; to win the daily food no labour was required of any save to stretch forth his hand and gather it from the sturdy oaks that stood generously inviting him with their sweet ripe fruit. The clear streams and running brooks yielded their savoury limpid waters in

Don Quixote by Gustav Doré Cervantes Museum in Alcalá de Henares

short story

Spain has many special Windmill routes to celebrate the adventures of Don Quixote and his sidekick Sancho Panza. The windmill route near Toledo, which is the heartland of the novels, follows a route along some of the most spectacular landscapes of Spain, where the hilltop windmills stand out against the green valleys as whitewashed giants against a clear blue sky. The route leads from Tembleque and the village of El Romeral to the spectacular twelve mills of Consuegra.

Windmills of Consuegra (photo by Michal Osmenda)

noble abundance. The busy and sagacious bees fixed their republic in the clefts of the rocks and hollows of the trees, offering without usance the plenteous produce of their fragrant toil to every hand. The mighty cork trees, unenforced save of their own courtesy, shed the broad light bark that served at first to roof the houses supported by rude stakes, a protection against the inclemency of heaven alone. Then all was peace, all friendship, all concord; as yet the dull share of the crooked plough had not dared to rend and pierce the tender bowels of our first mother that without compulsion yielded from every portion of her broad fertile bosom all that could satisfy, sustain, and delight the children that then possessed her. Then was it that the innocent and fair young shepherdess roamed from vale to vale and hill to hill, with flowing locks, and no more garments than were needful modestly to cover what

modesty seeks and ever sought to hide. Nor were their ornaments like those in use to-day, set off by Tyrian purple, and silk tortured in endless fashions, but the wreathed leaves of the green dock and ivy, wherewith they went as bravely and becomingly decked as our court dames with all the rare and far-fetched artifices that idle curiosity has taught them. Then the lovethoughts of the heart clothed themselves simply and naturally as the heart conceived them, nor sought to commend themselves by forced and rambling verbiage. Fraud, deceit, or malice had then not yet mingled with truth and sincerity. Justice held her ground, undisturbed and unassailed by the efforts of favour and of interest, that now so much impair, pervert, and beset her. Arbitrary law had not yet established itself in the mind of the judge, for then there was no

cause to judge and no one to be judged. Maidens and modesty, as I have said, wandered at will alone and unattended, without fear of insult from lawlessness or libertine assault, and if they were undone it was of their own will and pleasure. But now in this hateful age of ours not one is safe, not though some new labyrinth like that of Crete conceal and surround her; even there the pestilence of gallantry will make its way to them through chinks or on the air by the zeal of its accursed importunity, and, despite of all seclusion, lead them to ruin. In defense of these, as time advanced and wickedness increased, the order of knightserrant was instituted, to defend maidens, to protect widows and to succor the orphans and the needy. To this order I belong (...)â&#x20AC;? (Chapter XI: What befell Don Quixote with certain goatherds) *Norwegian Nobel Institute and the Norwegian Book Clubs, 2002

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Modern Traditions

Marques de Riscal winery and hotel in Elciego

Rioja region in winter

La Rioja in the north of Spain is an attractive region with sleepy villages, ancient citadels and churches that look more suitable for extended warfare than prayer. In the summer, the hilly landscape is a endless green carpet with touches of red.

In the winter the symmetrical rows of dark, gnarly vines against the sand-coloured fields are ideal for artists of the geometric abstraction persuasion. This is the homeland of the famous Rioja wines. Hundreds of worldrenowned bodegas still produce their heritage wines in their traditional ways. Or do they? Something modern is invading this timeless landscape. The traditional stone-brick wineries, usually with some old wooden barrels near the entrance to underscore craftsmanship, are being outclassed and upstaged by a completely new breed of building. Suddenly, shiny and flowing works of architecture one would expect in Paris, Barcelona or the London Docklands have taken over the old bodegas. The result of packaging age-old traditions in daring futuristic designs is however paying off and La Rioja is making a comeback, as a region and as a popular wine. Marques de Riscal in Elciego is the oldest winery of the region and makes many different wines including a Rioja Alavesa, officially just outside the Rioja region but with the same characteristics. North-American architect Frank Gehry (known in the region for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, 1997) was invited to create the ‘City of Wine’ building (2006). It is a structure covered by flowing stainless steel and titanium sheets that capture the light in surprising ways during the course of a day and during the changing of the seasons. On a small hill on the premises we can

Testpanels for Frank Gehry’s design

47 Cellars Marques de Riscal

still see the test site Gehry built to make sure his materials of choice were up to their task. The ‘City of Wine’ has twelve hotel rooms in the main building and additional rooms in an adjacent building. The kitchen boasts a traditional as well as a modern cuisine. Gehry has his critics, the building however did what it was supposed to do. It generated a global interest in the brand and the region. New architecture does however not mean giving up traditional values and in the other, less spectacular buildings on the estate we find cellar after cellar with large French and American oak barrels where the wines are aging to perfection. The technological equipment may have changed, the grape selection has not. For the better wines, the grapes are still chosen one by one by local experts. The process is very labour intensive, but it is well worth the effort. The impressive company collection of wines is securely housed behind an iron fence. The oldest bottles can still be enjoyed (albeit briefly) but cannot be uncorked. The neck of the bottle is heated by a flamethrower and then removed with a special pair of tongs.

Sideview Marques de Riscal hotel

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Above Ysios Winery Entrance Ysios Winery

Right Traditional buildings López de Heredia winery in Haro Pavillion López de Heredia winery by Zaha Hadid Interior

Santiago Calatrava signed off on the extraordinarily located Ysios Winery at the foot of the Sierra de Cantabria. This amazing building seems to flow over the landscape as a wave of wood and metal. This is an old region with ancient dolmens but the building fits seamlessly with its surroundings. Zaha Hadid, who passed away this year, designed a modest pavillion for the family-run López de Heredia Winery in Haro. The city is at the centre of La Rioja and during the annual battle of wine (batalla del vino) its inhabitants drink their wines by the bucket full.

Hadid created for the López de Heredia bodega a decanter-shaped Rioja tasting room of flowing metal. The building fits snugly on the site, surrounded by 19th and early 20th century stone-brick structures. Close by we find the modernist designed Muga Bodega.

Architect Iñaki Aspiazu created a square palace of glass and steel for the Baigorri Winery which fits perfectly with the surrounding vineyards. The production process below is gravity based and the upstairs ‘showroom’ seems to hover over the hill like a shiny spaceship.

In 2014 the Cooperative Wineries Programme in Catalonia won one of the six Grand Prix of the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards. The modernist buildings, which look more like churches than wineries, prove that the wine-growers always took their architecture seriously. The restoration was the result of a public-private partnership between the local organisations, the Catalan authorities and the Caixa foundation. These eye-catching ‘wine cathedrals’ are notable examples of the Catalan form of Modernism. They were mainly the work of Cèsar Martinell (1888-1973), a pupil of Gaudi. One is the work of Pere Domènech i Roura (1881-1962).

Muga winery

The Vivanco family took their dedication to wine, heritage and architecture one step further. They created the Museum of Wine Culture in Briones as a permanent home for the family’s huge wine heritage collection. It boasts over 4,000 m2 of exhibition halls and in the Garden of Bacchus we can discover more than 220

grapevine varieties from around the world. The museum, which is beautifully located within the medieval landscape, has a striking circular building at its heart. It was designed by architect Jesús Marino Pascual, who was born in La Rioja. He was also responsible for the robust looking, lily-white Darien Winery in Logroño.

Although the La Rioja region is traditionally known as part of the famous Way of St. James, architectural pilgrimages and wine-tourism have now become increasingly important. The daring ‘facelift’ of the old bodegas has given the region and its local communities a boost, heritage based and future proof.

Baigorri winery Museum of Wine Culture in Briones

treasure

Masters of Plaster It was on the afternoon of the 24th of August in the year 79AD that the inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum heard the loudest sound imaginable. Mount Vesuvius, which had been lying dormant for over 800 years, suddenly erupted.

From the collection of Anton Raphael Mengs

The mold of Lorenzo Ghibertiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Renaissance masterpiece Gates of Paradise

The volcanic meltdown took the locals completely by surprise. They had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. The people of Pompeii were immediately evaporated. Herculaneum however was engulfed by pyroclastic flows of lava, leaving the city and part of its fleeing population in a near perfect state of preservation, forever sealed in time. Although only a small part of the city has been excavated to date, it was clear from the very beginning that the gruesome disaster had given us an unique opportunity to discover everyday life in antiquity. Herculaneum was a splendid resort town where the elite came to relax at the seaside, a prosperous city with shopping streets and luxurious villas, such as the

Villa di Papiri. It was named after a library of over 1,800 burned papyrus scrolls, which were found there. Finally, after years of experimenting with different, often destructive techniques, new technologies have now become available to decipher the blackened and fused books. This library of previously deemed lost masterpieces was not the only surprise the luxurious terraced estate and its gardens had to offer. The most beautiful bronzes and sculptures were also retrieved intact from their stony hold. The villa, which was first excavated from the 1750s onward, also housed a collection of 80 bronzes and marble sculptures of magnificent quality. The collection included gods and goddesses, philosophers and kings, as well as Greek and Hellenistic generals. The digging in Herculaneum had been instigated by Charles of Bourbon, who was at that time both King of Naples and King of Sicily. He had great interest in art and painting and ordered the building of the Palace of

Bust from Herculaneum Miniature of Alexander the Great from Herculaneum Painting gallery Small doe from Herculaneum

Portici, close to Herculaneum, which would include a museum to show the archaeological treasures of the ancient destroyed cities. Charles would later become Charles III, King of Spain (in 1759), a capable and enlightened king who believed in the principles of rationality. He

was the king that gave Spain an anthem and a flag and greatly improved the new capital, Madrid. The kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart however may have stayed in Italy, as he never really seemed to embrace Spanish culture and traditions. His interest in Herculaneum however remained undiminished. The artist, sculptor and art restorer Camillo

52 treasure

The Real Fabrica de Porcelana del Buen Retiro was a porcelain manufacturing factory, started by Charles III who had before started a similar factory in Italy. When the factory building was pulled down in 1809, the beautiful and detailed casts of the porcelain designs were also moved to the Academy.

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando Staircase

Cast of mother and child from the Real Fabrica de Porcelana del Buen Retiro

Paderni was the director of the museum in Portici and he had plaster casts made of sculptures discovered at the Villa di Papiri at Herculaneum. The king ordered “that they be sent to Madrid so, at least, in this way I may have the pleasure in whatever way possible of viewing those objects that you know are to my mind and taste.” On a visit to ‘his’ Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in December of 1775, Charles III decided to donate the casts for the study of classic Roman and Greek art. In 1776 the casts of the Cynic Philosopher and the life-size sculpture of a doe – both found in Pompeii –came to Academy, as well as the cast of an

equestrian sculpture of Alexander the Great of exquisite quality. The Portici casts were the start of a plaster collection in the academy that lasts till today. The German painter and philosopher Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779) who was a welcome guest at the court of Charles III, gifted the Academy his cast collection for educational use, to “serve the young devoted to the arts of drawing as well as the professors themselves.” In 1772 Mengs had obtained permission to create a mold of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Renaissance masterpiece Gates of Paradise. Did he damage the gilding of the doors in the process? Maybe, as casts would never again be made from the famous doors. Donatello’s choir designs for the Duomo in Florence (1431) are another important highlights of the Academy’s collection. It also contains casts bought for Philip IV by painter Diego Velázquez during his second journey in Italy in 1649-50.

The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando obviously has a much wider collection, including Spanish, Italian and Flemish masterpieces, with paintings by Goya (who was a member of the Academy), Zurbarán and Ribera to name but a few. It is however the plaster casts that made the Academy into an internationally recognised expert centre and in 2005 they received the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards for their vast project to clean and restore them. They had to develop new techniques to analyse the internal structure of the plasters using gammagraphy. The research into the environmental conditions, storage, handling and preservative interventions of the plaster cast collection was impressive. They created strict criteria of reversibility to remove the centuries of smoke, fungi, waxes, oils and glazes, resins, polishes and various coats of paints that plagued the casts. Now they are ready for the future and ready to impress a whole new generation of artists, just as they once inspired former Academy students, such as Pablo Picasso, Antonio López García, Fernando Botero, Oscar de la Renta and Salvador Dalí.

Siempre con las personas frente al riesgo

Catástrofes Prevención, ayuda, continuidad Arte y Cultura Mecenazgo, difusión y conservación del patrimonio Acción Social Integración e igualdad

l覺v覺ng her覺tage

Horse And Carriage Spain and horses. Horses and Spain. The two have belonged together for thousands of years. From the ancient cave paintings in the North of Spain to the Royal Andalusian School of the Equestrian Art in Jerez, their histories are intertwined in many ways.

Horse and carriages are a familiar sight in Seville

Exhibition of Carriage Driving posters

Museum of the Real Club de Enganches de AndalucĂa Luxury carriage

The Galera

Horses were first domesticated on the Asian steppes, but in all probability a separate domestication took place on the Iberian peninsula. At first, prehistoric man hunted the large herds that roamed the plains but it was not for long, when humans discovered that a much more valuable and lasting bond could be forged, that the nature of the relationship changed forever. The horse became a noble and dependable companion on the battlefield as well as on the farm. The smart and highly trainable Andalusian (or Spanish) horse became the favourite animal of the crowned heads of Europe, as well as of the nobility and the military. Horse diplomacy was effectively used by the Spanish court to foster agreements and smooth over differences. Who could resist the magnificent glory of riding on an Andalusian steed in front of the admiring masses? The wide ranging cultural influence of the Habsburg family which ruled not only Spain, but also other European countries resulted in the

crossbreeding of the Andalusian horses with other European breeds. The Lipizzaner and the Kladruber for instance, combine the favourable traits of many different ancestors. Royal riding schools were established all over Europe to train man and horse to work together symbiotically to the best of their abilities. In the course of the 20th century the horse began to lose its place in society. Wars were increasingly fought without them, machines

replaced them in the fields and as a means of transportation, only the name horsepower was to remain. Their importance became more and more ceremonial and recreational. The Spanish passion for horses however remained as strong as ever. Nowhere is that dedication more clear than in the Real Club de Enganches de AndalucĂa and their Museum of Carriages in Seville. Vice president Raimundo Coral Rubiales is passionate about

Interior museum Coupe Clarence

56 lıvıng herıtage

the traditional horse and carriages. “Our museum is completely member driven and the carriages you see here are all owned by them. It is a living museum. The collection changes continuously, as our members bring in carriages to exhibit and then take them out again when they want to use them.” His own family owns over 40 carriages. “It is madness, I know, but they are so special and beautiful and so strongly connected to who we are as a family, to our heritage. Some of our members have many, many more carriages. It is an addictive combination of heritage and tradition, craftsmanship and mastership, passion and pleasure.

Royal Andalusian School of the Equestrian Art The Picadero of the Royal Andalusian School of the Equestrian Art in Jerez

Our annual Exhibition of Carriage Driving (Exhibición de Enganches ed.) is a sensation in which over a hundred horse and carriages participate with tens of thousands of spectators. And the interest is growing, also among young people.” The Exhibition is a Seville classic, a not-to-be-missed annual event when the whole city comes out to reconnect with their equestrian roots. The historical horse and carriages put on their best harnesses and parade in front of the local community. Coral Rubiales explains: “Horse and carriage are still very much a part of our local community. In Seville you can go on a riding tour just as you can in many other cities in Spain, but here the traditional roots are deep.

Saddle workshop in the Royal Andalusian School

It is not just about the horses and carriages themselves, it is also about the intangible heritage that surrounds them, the knowledge and skills of the horse trainers, the Calesera harness makers, the upholsterers, the blacksmiths and the carpenters. All this is a part of Andalusian culture we cannot afford to lose. This old monastery, the ancient convent of Los Remedios, in which our foundation and museum have found a home, is a perfect symbolic heritage location near the centre of town.”

examples of many countries and periods. The omnibus for instance, used for public transport and the hansom cab, which was invented by J.A. Hansom in 1834. The design was initially bad, but eventually it became an elegant single horse drawn carriage. The Carratela (also known also as the Caleche or Barouche) with space for four people facing one another with room in the back for the lackey, the pulpitillo, who could jump out to open the door and carry the suitcases. The Coup de Gala with its decorated panels and the luxurious Berlina de Gala

are almost living-rooms on wheels with all the creature comforts a nobleman or woman could wish for. The design of the Galera, the typical Spanish farmers’ carriage, goes back to ancient times. After 2,000 years it is still as uncomfortable and bumpy a ride as during the Roman Empire.

The Real Club de Enganches de Andalucía and the Museum of Carriages managed to keep the traditions, the intangible and tangible heritage relevant and upto-date and put the longstanding Spanish heritage in an international perspective. The horse and He shows me the different carriages on display. The museum carriages of Spain are a perfect example of living heritage, deeply features a large collection of horse drawn carriages and shows connected to the local community.

How the Andalusian Horses Dance show

We know horses can jump, but in the Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Equestre (Royal Andalusian School of the Equestrian Art, established 1973) in Jerez de la Frontera some horses can jump with all four legs high in the air. It looks as amazing as it sounds. The magnificent horses and their riders are trained to the highest standards and their world-famous show How the Andalusian Horses Dance (Como bailan los caballos andaluces) takes place in a special arena, the Picadero, on the historic premises of the school. The indoor arena painted in bright colours, seats up to 1,600 spectators and is often filled up to the hilt. The spectacular show proves that Spainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s equestrian heritage is in good hands, with masters and strictly selected students from across the globe. The school teaches all aspects of the trade with for instance a harness workshop where the master harness maker and his apprentices make and repair the intricate designs and create leather saddles according to ancient traditions. The raison dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ĂŞtre of the school is the appreciation, understanding, preservation, study and promotion of the art of horsemanship and carriage driving. The school also has a Museum of Equestrian Art and a Carriage Museum. realescuela.org/en

country dreams

Gaudí in the North

The young Gaudí

With the final steps, or rather final towers, of the completion of the Sagrada Família in the foreseeable future and the record visitors numbers to the other buildings and parks in Barcelona of Spain’s most beloved architect, it is easy to forget that Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (1852-1926) and the architectural genius he was to become, once stood at the beginning of his career. How much of his unique signature in form and texture can we find in his earlier works, which are hidden from mass tourism, in the far North of Spain? These magnificent buildings, which come from his early years, show us that the young Gaudí had already quite a story to tell and a vision to share.

59 Episcopal Palace in Astorga

The Episcopal Palace in Astorga is an extraordinary building which construction history reads like an architect’s nightmare. It started pleasantly enough. It was an assignment by his friend Bishop Joan Baptista Grau i Villespinós. The old palace had been destroyed by a fire and the Bishop was looking for something special and believed that Gaudí was the right man for the job. The architect was at the time working on the Palace Güell in Barcelona and based his first designs on photographs of the site the bishop had sent him. Much to the joy of his friend, Gaudí designed a grandiose medieval palace of light and space. The work started in 1889.

Unfortunately things started to go pear-shaped very quickly when the Bishop died unexpectedly. By that time only three floors had been completed. The new bishop saw very little merit in the building’s design, slashed the budget and changed the design. Gaudí refused to comply and deserted the project.

The Episcopal Palace would stay roofless and unfinished for years. Finally in the first decades of the 20th century the building was completed in a simple and modest way by architect Ricardo Garcia Guereta. The original angelic sculptures Gaudí had envisioned for the roof have now found a place in the garden. Still no bishop had ever lived in the building. That was about to change in the 1960s but once

The angel who never made it to the roof Playing with the light Dining room Ceiling in the palace

country dreams

Casa Botines in León Interior Casa Botines

again the religious leader died before he could move in. The new bishop Marcelo González Martín must have thought that enough is enough and he had the building converted into a museum of religious art. The Museo de los Caminos is dedicated to the Way of St. James and its collection contains, for instance, a complete chapel and the original Cruz de Ferro, the famous iron cross of the Way of St. James. Astorga is an important stop on the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela. The outside as well as the inside of the building clearly reveal the hand of the master with ornamented tiles, Moorish architectural references and even the first example of a rounded arch that Gaudí would use abundantly in his later designs.

The Casa Botines is in the centre of León, not far from Astorga. Gaudí had accepted the assignment of a business associate of the Count of Güell (for whom he worked in Barcelona) because he thought he could easily combine the work with the building of the Episcopal Palace in Astorga.

He created the blueprints for the building in 1891. It is an austerelooking Gothic castle built as a business headquarters with offices, reception rooms and even two private apartments on the top floor. He created a moat to allow more light into the basement, a successful technique he would use again and again in later buildings. On the ground floor, a series of cast iron pillars give the space an airy and open atmosphere. St. George and the Dragon guard the entrance. Interestingly, a lead container was discovered underneath the sculpture during a renovation in the 1950 with Gaudí’s designs and press clippings from the period. El Capricho Palace in Comillas (Cantabria) was designed by Gaudí for Máximo Díaz de Quijano as a summer house. It is a delightful place that seems to follow the sun wherever it goes. Bright yellow sunflower tiles can be found everywhere on the

El Capricho Palace in Comillas

outer walls. The ceramic tower on one of the corners seems more at home in an enchanted forest than in the seaside resort of Comillas. Gaudí’s client had a keen interested in music and the arts and he designed a house filled with musical references. The forged iron balconies have clefs as a returning motif. Stained glass windows show singing birds. Even the shutters open and close with melodic chimes. Unfortunately the house did not bring the owner much luck. He died on July 7, 1885, seven days after he had moved in. Gaudí himself probably never even visited El Capricho during construction. He designed it, but it was built by architect Cascante Colom. For a long time the house was not in use regularly and some of the tiles and other artistic elements were quickly removed by the villagers and visitors. In 1977, the last descendant of the family to own the house sold the property to a businessman, Antonio Diaz, who restored

it in 1988 and turned it into a restaurant. One would expect that people would stand in line to buy a Gaudí designed building but in the 1980s he was not the cultural icon and national treasure he was to become. It was a difficult sell. In 1992 it was on the market once more, but business success was elusive. A new restoration however won a Europa Nostra Medal in 1996. Finally, in 2009 the building became a museum. El Capricho Palace is now run by a private foundation and things are looking up. Whenever there is a surplus they restore something. It is not a perfect building and especially Gaudí’s idea to make the gutters and downspouts part of the roof construction could have done with a little bit more engineering advice. They have placed Gaudí designed furniture on the top floor of the museum and have renovated the gardens. The conservatory and the tower also need their urgent attention. However, sitting on the forged iron balcony overlooking the gardens in full bloom, it is clear that Gaudí designed a little paradise worthy of international attention and appreciation. Musical references

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My Madrid Plácido Domingo is probably the world’s most famous classical performer, singer and conductor. In a career that spans decades he has performed almost 4,000 times in almost 150 roles. He is a UNESCO Goodwill ambassador and, of course, the President of Europa Nostra.

Maestro Plácido Domingo in front of the house where he was born on 21 January 1941

Even though Plácido Domingo Embil lived during his formative years in Mexico and has made the world his home, Madrid has an important place in his heart. He was born there on 21 January 1941. His father Plácido Domingo Ferrer and mother ‘Pepita’ Embil were celebrated musicians and famous as zarzuela (a Spanish form of musical theatre) singers and performers. In 1949 the 8-year-old Plácido and his sister María José followed their parents to Mexico where they had started their own successful zarzuela company. Only much later would they return from Mexico to Spain for a series of concerts and performances. Nowadays, Plácido Domingo and his family live part of the year in Madrid. This Spain Special is an excellent opportunity to ask the Maestro to share his favourite heritage locations from the city of his early youth. It is no secret that I am a great lover of sports. Tennis and Formula One of course, but my real passion is football. I would go to great lengths to support my team, Real Madrid. Every now and again, unfortunately never enough to my taste, there

is a magical moment on the field when the game and the players are in perfect harmony. It is like a symphony of fast and slow movements, beautifully executed by the team; adagio, allegro, then the grand crescendo...GOAL! The stadium for Real Madrid was built in the late forties, the brainchild of legendary club president, Santiago Bernabéu. At the time it was the most

modern stadium in the world, a beacon of hope and renewal in an area of Madrid which had been devastated by the civil war. It was inaugurated in December of 1947, with a 3-1 victory over the Portuguese champions, Os Belenenses. When the amphitheater was enlarged in 1955, it was named in honour of Bernabéu and it still up to this day bears his name. Over the last 70 years the stadium has been restructured and redesigned to adapt it to modern necessities and in 2014 Florentino Pérez, President of Real Madrid, announced that the famous sportive battleground will be transformed once again, this time by architectural firms GMP Arquitectos and L35 Ribas, with a revolutionary design that will encompass the building with a monumental outer shell.

The future of Bernabéu Stadium? Bernabéu Stadium, Real Madrid

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Cine Dore Interior Cine Dore

Zarzuela Theatre Zarzuela Theatre

I am a great lover of the silver screen. Unfortunately many of the old cinemas of my youth are no longer in use and with their disappearance many of memories and stories are lost too. I remember sitting in the darkness of the theatre with the clickerdiclick of the reels on the projector and the white beam of light and expectation. Films have come a long way since I was a young boy and the accomplishments of the directors, producers and actors in conjuring up new worlds and creating completely new experiences, are truly phenomenal. But sometimes I cannot help missing the old

classic cinemas with their slightly over the top architecture. As I said, many have disappeared, but not all. The famous Cine Doré in Madrid is still with us and has found a new lease on life with all the charms of a forgotten era intact. The Cine Doré was built in 1923 and quickly became a cultural icon of the city. In the 1960s the decline of the Antón Martín neighbourhood also meant the end of the Ciné Dore. The doors closed in 1963. In the 1980s the unique architecture of the building was recognised and now the building functions as

the exhibition hall and screening room of the Spanish Film Library, and is also used for book presentations, seminars and conferences. It won a Europa Nostra diploma in 1998. Zarzuela is probably the first music I ever heard, certainly the first music I sang and even today it is the music I always come back to, maybe even more now that I am getting older. It brings back fond memories of my parents and my beloved sister, of Mexico and Spain. You can look at photographs or read letters, but for me listening and singing the zarzuela music is the

quickest and strongest way to reminiscence. I can still hear my mother’s beautiful opera voice, my father’s famous baritone with a timbre so much like my own. I never wanted to leave the theatre when they were performing, even when I had school the next day. I always knew that my career would be in music, would be on the stage. Standing in the wings, seeing my parents perform, I could never imagine myself doing anything else than sing, act and perform. Together with my own family we now sing zarzuela, to remember the bittersweet passing of time. They are such vibrant and joyful songs to sing. I guess that is the essence of my passion for music; it started with zarzuela, with my dear family, more than seventy years ago. My parents used to perform in the famous Teatro de la Zarzuela. The theatre was also the main opera stage of Madrid because the El Real (Royal Theatre) was closed for a long time. The Royal Theatre was re-opened for opera performances in 1997 and I remember singing in Divinas Palabras of Spanish composer Antón García Abril, which was commissioned for the opening. The award ceremony for the 2016 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards will be held in the Zarzuela Theatre in Madrid. Built in 1856, it was mostly consumed by fire in 1909. The building has been restored and reconstructed many times and the beautiful interior mirrors the classical form of La Scala in Milan. It is one of the most popular concert halls of Madrid.

Plácido Domingo Ferrer with composer Federico Moreno Torroba in the Zarzuela Theatre,1946

Plácido with his sister María José

Plácido Domingo Ferrer and ‘Pepita’ Embil

From left to right

If your face is known by many, it can sometimes be a challenge to stroll around anonymously and just enjoy the sights. Luckily however, it is still possible, on an early Sunday morning for instance, to explore the city of my youth and enjoy all the beautiful heritage Madrid has to offer. The city has changed much over the years and many of the streets, squares and parks

are now beautifully restored and have retaken their role in the community. The wonderful Paseo del Prado and the Prado Museum with the wonderful Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and of course the Reina Sofia Museum nearby. Together they are a magnificent testimony to man’s creative power. This immense concentration of works of art is like a healing elixir for the soul.

Plácido Domingo Ferrer and ‘Pepita’ Embil later in life The Zarzuela Café where Plácido Domingo Ferrer and ‘Pepita’ Embil used to perform is now a hotel Opera of Madrid

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Prado Museum

The Parque del Oeste has the famous temple of Debod, which was not there when I grew up. This millennia old building, a thankyou gift from Egypt, always makes my everyday worries seem a lot less important. The park has a stunning view of the Royal Palace and on a clear day you can see the surrounding landscape of the city. The Temple of Debod was dismantled from its original location near the Aswan High Dam in the southern part of Egypt. Egypt received help from many countries, including Spain, to safely move some of its ancient treasures, which threatened to be flooded by the damâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reservoir. The temple was reconstructed in Madrid in 1972 and has become a beloved landmark.

Temple of Debod in the Parque del Oeste

The atrocious attacks in Madrid on the commuter train service on 11 March 2004 killed 191 people

Atocha Station

and wounded so many more and left the country in shock and deep sadness. The Atocha train station was at the centre of this terrible day. The old station was partially transformed in 1992 into a botanical garden. This beautiful contemplative space and the attacks seemed to belong to two completely different worlds, one looking forward with hope and confidence, the other just a reflection of darkness and destruction. Atocha train station was built in 1892 by the student of Gustave Eiffel, Alberto de Palacio Elissagne. In 1992 the trains moved to a new station next door and the domed iron and stone structure was transformed into a tropical garden with shops and restaurants. Pritzker Prize

Interior Atocha Station

and RIBA Royal Gold Medal award winner Rafael Moneo was responsible for the expansion of the station. The Parque de El Retiro is a place to wander and relax in the middle of the city with amazing trees and the majestic Palacio de Cristal, which in the early morning light seems to float on air. My grand son

Parque El Retiro Statue of the fallen angel Interior Palacio de Cristal

The Chapel of San Isidro exterior The Chapel of San Isidro interior

Alvaro learned to ride a bicycle here, just as I did when I was a boy. Not far from there is an interesting statue, the Estatua del Ángel Caído, probably the only sculpture in the world capturing the moment the angel Lucifer fell from heaven. The Fallen Angel in Retiro Park was created in 1877 by Spanish sculptor Ricardo Bellver. It is inspired by John Milton’s Paradise Lost. The Palacio de Cristal was built in 1887 as a greenhouse to show the flora and fauna of the Philippines. It was inspired by similar buildings elsewhere in Europa such as Kew Gardens in London. It is a now a exhibition space. The Retiro public garden is the former park

of the Royal Site named “El Buen Retiro” of the Habsburg dynasty. I have been fortunate over the years to meet many spiritual leaders. Last March for instance I met Pope Francis for the first time and I have also met with Pope John Paul II on several occasions. Some of my most precious projects have been connected to recording sacred music. ‘Amore Infinite’, for instance, on which I collaborated with my son, was inspired by the late Pope’s poetry. Madrid has many beautiful churches and religious monuments, but one of my favourite locations is the San Isidro Museum on the lovely

Saint Andrew’s Square. It is built around the house of Saint Isidro the Farmer, who lived here together with his wife Maria Torribia over 800 years ago. Saint Isidro the Farmer is the patron saint of Madrid and he was a real miracle worker with more than 400 miracles attributed to him. He had angels ploughing his fields for him and he was kind to people and animals. We celebrate his memory on 15 May, not just in Madrid and Spain, but also in Peru, Chile, the Philippines and Mexico. The Chapel of San Isidro was beautifully restored and was a Europa Nostra Medal winner in 1991.

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El Caminito de Rey The Gorgeous Gorge

This walk is not for the faint-hearted. People with a fear of heights should probably stay as far away as possible from El Caminito de Rey (The Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Little Pathway).

The gorge with the suspension bridge as seen from the hydroelectric plant

Just looking at a photograph of this heritage walkway, which hangs precariously along the rock-face, might push them over the edge. Even the dozens of walking enthusiasts, equipped with colourful hardhats against the falling rocks, cannot resist casting a furtive look through fragile-looking planks to the rugged rocks far, far below. It is an incredible experience, a gorgeous adventure. El Caminito de Rey should immediately be high on anyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bucket list. 300,000 visitors a year already make their way to El Chorro in the province of MĂĄlaga to walk this hike of hikes. Its restoration is a 2016 winner of the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards. Cultural heritage usually conjures up images of pleasant gardens and beautiful monuments. A cave-like gorge suitable for a dragon may not spring immediately to mind. The historic path was

constructed in the early 20th century as a shortcut for the local population to reach the hydroelectric plant on the other side of the gorge. Walking around would have taken too long and for years the walkway connected communities on both side of the mountains. It gradually started to deteriorate when modern modes of transportation made the long way around more preferable than the death-defying hike through the mountains. The path became a challenge for adventurous climbers and was all but forgotten by the local community. When the idea arose to restore the historical El Caminito de Rey and use it to boost sustainable tourism and invigorate the

local communities, architect Luis Machuca Santa-Cruz had to think twice before accepting the commission. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People thought I was crazy to take the job in the first place. It was an engineering challenge. Right from the beginning we decided to plan very thoroughly. The gorge is difficult to reach, so we did not want to use materials that could not easily be replaced and repaired locally. We were lucky compared to the original construction workers who created the pathway. We at least could use helicopters to fly in the bulk of the materials. We chose to use a simple, tried and tested construction. It is elegant but not high tech at all. We use pine and steel. We can fix almost everything on the spot. We took three years to think it

The beginning of the path The old structure can still be seen underneath

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modern architecture and industrial and natural heritage.

Sometimes we used the old track but mostly we created the new path above the old one. We developed techniques to secure the structure deep and safe in the rock-face.”

The visitors look very small

through, to calculate and plan. Thanks to our preparation, we could build the structure in one year. Luckily, we had no accidents. The original path still in situ was very dangerous, but as an architect I could not play it safe from a secure location while the workers would take the risk. I had to get down onto the ledge to prove it was safe. Not my best memory of the project. It was a long way down, dangling on the side of the rock.

The path is clinging to the massive rock-face like a meandering river of steel and wood, almost too fragile against a backdrop of the huge mountain. In some places the old path was restored, in other cases the historic construction is clearly visible under the new one. The method the architect used allows for a comparative view of the walkways. It is a perfect marriage between

The narrow passages on both sides of the mountain range lead to a much wider valley, a natural sanctuary, a hidden Shangri-la. The Griffon vultures circle high above. One may hope they do not know something we do not. Wild mountain goats roam the hills and a small protected frog has found a home in a stone bath left long ago by one of the few original inhabitants of the valley. The guards, recruited from the local community, check if everybody wears their hard hats and sticks to the designated route. The crumbling walls may lose their ancient grip on the stones that hold them together and cascade down from the mountain on the path. “Therefore,” as architect Luis Machuca Santa-Cruz explains “we have to able to quickly replace each individual part of the pathway.” Halfway along the path, there is the Royal bridge and a tiny

railway station. It was only used once when the King visited the gorge a long time ago. The Royal bridge sounds too grand for the tiny and rickety structure which was too fragile to restore. Near the end of the trail you cross the gorge for the first time. In the far distance you can see the reservoir and the power station and when you look back you can see the green valley of El Caminito del Rey. The support beams look suspiciously slim. The bridge is slowly swinging in the wind that rushes in and out of the small corridor between the mountains. Deep down below, a small cobalt blue river pushes its way along grey, uninviting boulders. From a distance the hikers walking from one side of the huge mountain to the other, seem to float high up in the air. The lightweight suspension bridge itself is hardly visible from hundreds of metres away. “There was no bridge here, just a water channel,” architect Luis Machuca Santa-Cruz points out. “We could have used that structure, but we decided it was

not stable enough. Restoring turned out to be technically complicated and expensive. Therefore we created this new bridge and people love it. You seem to hover in the air and you have the best view possible on all sides. If the wind is too strong, above a 100 km, we do not allow the hikers to cross, but you can still enjoy the beautiful sight through three large rock windows from a restored tunnel. It does however mean you have to walk all the way back. Normally it is a one-way hike. People are picked up at the end of the path and brought back to the parking lot on the other side, but if the wind picks up too much you cannot cross the gorge and you have to return.” The renovation of the King’s Little Pathway has secured and opened up a unique example of natural and industrial heritage to the world. The organisation dreams of building a new visitors centre to further promote not only the walkway itself but also to further boost the economy of the whole region.

Griffon vulture in flight (photo by Vyh Pyhmann) Architect Luis Machuca SantaCruz The gorge is a hidden valley

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Deep Roots It looks like the tortured and twisted creation of a modern sculptor. The monumental figure stands on four delicate intertwined legs which lead up to a massive hollow trunk covered with silvery green leaves that seem to follow the sun.

Monumental olive was used to hide a wounded soldier

There are more then 600 varieties of olives. In the S矇nia Territory we find the Farga, the Morruda, the Sevillenca, the Empeltre, the Cuquello and the Marfil. The Sevillenca being gentle, complex and sweet, the Morruda adding the green touches and strong personality, the Empeltre brings the bitter, spicy and nutty, and the Farga adds the herbaceous flavours and sweetness. The varieties are all harvested and processed separately and then mixed.

According to legend, a tired and wounded soldier hid between the branches during the Spanish Civil War. A bit far fetched at first glance but one look up the inner sanctum of this natural wonder makes clear that it is not that unlikely. This gnarly and knotty olive is just one of the thousands of trees that can still be found in the SĂŠnia Territory

which consists of 27 villages between the Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia Autonomous Communities. The saving of these unbelievably old and serene creatures is a wonderful story of communities coming together and making their heritage an essential part of their future.

This is the area of the ancient Via Augusta, the Roman road that changed the agricultural system of Spain forever. It was the Phoenicians who brought the olive tree, the domesticated version of a small Mediterranean shrub known as Ăşllastres, to Spain. The Romans made the olive oil into a first class export product and their road system and the Pax Romana made trade throughout the empire a lucrative endeavour. The Arabs inherited and improved the system of cultivation and the Christians built further on their accomplishments. Time passed and empires came and went, but the trees along the Via Augusta, amidst an ever green ocean of olive groves, simply remained

Via Augusta Olives (by Jeroni Castell) Olive oil mousse: 200 ml Via Augusta olive oil, 125 g lightly whipped cream, 110 g milk, 110 g half and half cream, 40 g egg yoke, 20 g glycerine, 7.5 g gelatible leaves, 10 g salt. Gelatine: 200 ml black olive water, 200 ml water, 100 ml white vermouth, 25 gr agar-agar. Cook the milk, cream and egg yoke at 85 degrees, move from heat and add the gelatine leaves and the glycerine, blend in a Thermomix. Leave it to cool to 30 degrees and stir in the lightly whipped cream, put it in a mould in the form of an olive and freeze. Gelatine: put all the liquids and the agar agar in a pan and bring them to the boil, stirring all the time, leave it to cool a little and gel the olive mousse

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The campus of the Banco Santander headquarters outside Madrid Banco Santander’s chairman Emilio Botín (1934-2014) was not only a banker with a keen interest in the financial global market, he was also an avid fan of the ancient olive trees. At the campus of the Banco Santander headquarters outside Madrid we see the result of his interest in a beautifully landscaped garden full of 1,000-year-old olive trees, including the ‘Everest’ which is more than 1,200 years old. The olive trees from the Via Augusta are a lasting legacy and befitting to an historic company such as Banco Santander and the long history of the family. Mr. Botin’s great-grandfather, for instance, discovered the first prehistoric cave paintings in Altamira in northern Spain in 1879.

75 Elsewhere in Spain, the olive tree is also an essential part of the local communities. The Lagar del Mudo is an old olive mill in San Felices de los Gallegos (Salamanca) which has been transformed into an Olive Oil Museum. In 2002 the museum won the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards.

In the late 20th century many of these attractive ancient trees were uprooted and sold to adorn parks, roundabouts and the private gardens of the rich and famous. â&#x201A;Ź 10,000 is a lot of money for a struggling farmer and there was little awareness that with every tree a bit of the history and the heritage disappeared forever. The trees were not protected and money talks.

of Ulldecona Jaume Antich Balada, the director of the project, working together with Teresa Adell Pons. In the 2000s a grassroots social movement started with the aim of saving this dynamic cultural landscape with its combination of natural, cultural and agricultural material and immaterial heritage. In 2009 a catalogue, created by the Mancomunitat (an association of local authorities ed.) of Taula del SĂŠnia, counted more than 4,000 trees, which had a circumference of at least 3.5 metres.

A growing group of citizens however became concerned about these trees and what they represent for the community, explains the former mayor

â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was difficult to convince the owners at first. We started at the bottom, with the farmers, because we knew that as soon as they would believe in the

and kept producing their oil, year after year, century after century.

Jaume Antich Balada and Teresa Adell Pons in front of the oldest olive tree

project, the rest would follow. They changed their mind very quickly when they saw the potential of the idea. They even started to replant the traditional Farga olives, which had not been planted here in over 200 years. The community has embraced the idea of quality above quantity and that has had a rippling effect on the olive oil production of other farms and production facilities. Some areas that had not been cultivated for a long time are now back in production. We made the ancient olive groves accessible for tourists, we put signs and created the open air

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Olive Tree Museum (Ulldecona), the Natural Millennium Olive Tree Museum (La Jana) and several visitor centres. Oleotourism is very important! And, of course, we created a line of specialised products from these olive trees, some of which are more than 1600 years old.” The project is backed by the Taula del Sénia Mancomunitat, IRTA (of Mas Bové) and the Alícia Foundation. Teresa Adell Pons adds: “The olives are harvested and pressed the same day and the owners are not allowed to harvest themselves. The process is strictly supervised and every tree has an identity chip so we can trace production. The oil sells across the world, from China to Dubai.” One of the restaurants that uses the special olive oil is Michelin Star restaurant Les Moles of chef Jeroni Castell in Ulldecona, right in the heart of the ancient olive trees territory. His philosophy is to transform the traditional ingredients of the Ebro Delta and the Terra Alta region, including the produce from his own vegetable garden, into something new and exciting. The popular restaurant had humble beginnings and Jeroni Castell remembers well how hard it sometimes was. “I did not start as a chef at all. I was the maître d’hôtel and I had never cooked in my life. Then one day the chef called in sick and I took over, even though I had no idea how to do it. Later, when the old chef came back, I realised I did not want to go back to the way things were. Together with my wife we started this adventure, step by step. It was really tough, my wife was pulling double shifts at her parent’s company and in the restaurant. Like me, she had no experience. I remember she had trouble even opening a bottle of wine. But we did it together, we improved, we got better. I learned the basics from an old lady in a nearby town. Later I was fortunate enough to be trained in the some of the best restaurants in Spain.” “My first dish is always connected to this olive oil. I started using it in 2007 and I have many different creations with the local olive oil. And we use the fresh shellfish from the Ebro Delta and carob, a wonderful product with a very distinctive flavour from a tree which grows in our own garden.” Chef Jeroni Castell recently revisited some of his earlier creations such as his cuttlefish cannelloni filled with wild mushrooms and king prawns (2001), mackerel with elvers (2009) and the steamed shellfish, oyster au natural, seaweed gelatin and a touch of fennel in The Ebro Delta (2013). And lets not forget his MC Moles (2008), a hamburger made with foie, tomato and yellow pepper jams.

Chef Jeroni Castell of Michelin Star restaurant Les Moles Restaurant garden

“And we have convinced over fifty restaurants and famous chefs to use the oil in their creations. We even made a book filled with recipes from the 1,000 year old olive trees. Also the awards (they received the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards in 2014 ed.) help us create more awareness. Maybe it is something Spanish, but if people from other countries award you,

it makes a big difference.” “A good example of the impact of the project on the community,” continues Jaume Antich Balada, “is that two trees had to be cut down to make way for a road, but the villagers protested and now the road goes around the trees. All these trees are individuals. One of them has even become a moviestar.” The Olive Tree by director Icíar Bollaín tells the fictional story of a thousand-year-old

tree that was sold to a German bank in Düsseldorf and how its absence effected the family relations. The film crew worked for months to make an exact replica of one of the trees, as it obviously could not be moved: a stunt double as it were. To walk into one of the ancient olive groves and see this monumental and sculptural living heritage is an emotional experience. Here is a direct, living connection to the Roman

Empire, to the traditions and stories of the cultures that have shared this land for thousands of years. These trees are the local farmers’ most loyal employees, producing their oil without complaining or asking for much. They are living heritage, breathing monuments that have brought back a sense of pride and joy to these ancient communities along the Via Augusta. tauladelsenia.org

The star of The Olive Tree by director Icíar Bollaín

then & now

Then & Now Some changes, even the ones we worked and wished for, can leave us a little bit nostalgic for the past. When we look at black & white photographs of the 19th and early 20th century, a lost world frozen forever in a fraction of a second, it is hard not to feel sentimental about the fragility of life and the passing of time. Some buildings have been with us for many generations as anchors in the ocean of time, others have disappeared or changed beyond recognition. From an ancient Roman theatre to the modern bullfighting arenas, from world renowned museums to a simple railway bridge, the Then & Now section gives us the possibility to see the changes of monuments and sites through the centuries. Museo del Prado The Prado Museum is probably the largest art gallery in the world, founded with the express idea to dazzle the world with the riches of Spain and the Spanish Royal family. The more than 8,000 paintings by El Greco, Raphael, Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, Hieronymus Bosch, Goya, Velรกzquez, Titian and many, many others can be overwhelming. Just like the nearby Thyssen Bornemisza Museum and the Reina Sofia Museum, the Prado Museum needs several visits just to familiarise yourself with the collections. At home you can already check some of the art works in high resolution on Google Earth.

Museo Cerralbo The Cerralbo museum in Madrid won the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards in 2008 for the recovery and restoration of the salons, the decorations and collections of the home of the Marquis of Cerralbo. The museum gives a wonderful overview of late 19th century and early 20th century high society in Spain.

Hospital of the Holy Cross (Santa Cruz de Madrid)

La Latina Beatriz Galindo (1465-1534) was exceptionally smart, well-educated and outspoken for a woman of her time. She was the teacher of Queen Isabella of Castile. She was married

to Francisco Ramirez de Madrid and together they had five children. She founded the Hospital of the Holy Cross (Santa Cruz de Madrid) in 1506 in Madrid. She was also known as La Latina. The beautiful facade of the

Beatriz Galindo

hospital, which carries both her and her husband’s name, is no longer in its original location. Luckily it was saved and can now be found in front of the architectural department of the University of Madrid.

The statue of King Felipe IV

The Edificio España The Edificio España is one of the city’s most iconic buildings. Designed by architect Julián Otamendi and his brother and constructed from 1948 to 1953, it is an example of the Spanish Neo-baroque style.

The statue of King Felipe IV on the Plaza de Oriente, next to the Royal Palace, is a lot older than the fountain that surrounds it. It was designed by the Italian sculptor Pietro Tacca in 1634 and shipped to Madrid in 1640, the year of the artist’s death. It was based on a work by Vélazquez but the rules for sculptural design are very different from painting. Gravity tends to be a lot more important. To balance the horse on its back legs was tricky. Tacca asked famous Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei for advice. He suggested making the back of the horse solid and the front hollow.

then & now

The Plaza Mayor The Plaza Mayor is an elegant rectangular square in the centre of Madrid. It was finished in the beginning of the 17th century. It is completely surrounded by four story buildings resting on monumental archways. It is the traditional location for the Christmas market. Just a few blocks away we find Madrid’s other famous square, the Puerta del Sol. The busy square is a favourite for demonstrations and is so full of street artists pretending to be statues that it is easy to miss the real ones, such as the Bear and the Madroño Tree (the heraldic symbol of Madrid) and the equestrian statue of King Charles III.

Platea Madrid A former cinema on the Plaza de Colón in Madrid has been transformed into a gourmet food hall where Michelin stars are no exception. It was a project of epic proportions with many challenges along the way. You can still recognise the form of the cinema in its multi-story

design with several balconies and a large stage. Appearances however can be deceiving. All of the elements which look surprisingly authentic are not. Everything had to be rebuilt from nothing. The building had to be adapted to its new use in every way imaginable and the costs were astronomical. But now the Platea Madrid is not only a success of renovation, it is also a commercial success and has contributed to the rejuvenation of the whole district.

The Puente de los Franceses (The Bridge of the Frenchmen) This railway viaduct in Madrid was named after the nationality of the engineers who built it in the second half of the 19th century. For a long time it was a popular spot to go for a swim on the hot summer days. Now the area is built up and the arches of the bridge are mainly used to offer protection to the homeless.

The original bullring outside the gates of Alcalá, Madrid

Luis Miguel Dominguín

Famous bullfighters

Bullfighting They are very few subjects in Spain that evoke as much emotion as the discussions around bullfighting. The validity of the incredibly rich and diverse cultural heritage, tangible as well as intangible, has been questioned and even some of the celebrated arenas are now in dire straits. The number of bullfights a year is decreasing, young people stay away and the glamour of the bullfighters has faded away with the famous ferocity of the Spanish bulls. Whatever one’s opinion on the subject might be, we cannot pass on some of the most fascinating aspects of Spanish heritage. The Las Ventas bullring in Madrid is one of the largest and the most important in the world. It is an amazing round structure, reminiscent of a Roman amphitheatre.

Las Ventas bullring in Madrid

Next to the ring we find a statue of Luis Miguel Dominguín (1926-96), one of the legendary bullfighters. It was a glorious time when bullfighters were as famous as movie stars and Dominguín was friends with Pablo Picasso (who designed a ‘suit of lights’ for him) and had romances with Hollywood darling Ava Gardner and model China Machado. Close by we find a sculpture of Alexander Fleming, the microbiologist, Nobel Prize winner and discoverer of penicillin in 1928. At first

glance he seems out of place here next to the bullring, but bullfighters had to fight a lot of aggressive and unwashed bulls and infections could be lethal. So grateful were they to the scientist that they erected a statue in his honour. Alexander Fleming

then & now

The Roman Theatre and Museum

The Roman Theatre and Museum in Cartegena The museum and the recovery of the Roman theatre won a EU Prize for Cultural Heritage /

Europa Nostra Award in 2010. Under the leadership of architect Rafael Moneo, the Roman theatre has once again taken its place at the centre of this

remarkable ancient city, where some of the houses are built on the original Roman ruins.

The Roman Theatre of Mérida in the 19th century The Roman Theatre of Mérida (photo by Pikaluk)

The Roman Theatre of Mérida. It is one of the largest and most extensive archaeological sites in Spain. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993.

The Roman Theatre of Medellin In 2013 the transformation of this ruined and partially-buried Roman theatre was a Grand Prix winner of the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards. The theatre was excavated and conserved, and made accessible to tourists. It is one of the most significant exercises in patrimonial recovery in Spain. The Roman Theatre of Medellín (photo by Amfeli) The Roman Theatre of Medellín before restoration

RESISTENTE

A L

AG UA

Protección IP68 contra polvo y en caso de inmersión en agua dulce hasta 1,5 m de profundidad, durante un máximo de 30 minutos. Test realizado en condiciones ambientales controladas (15-35 °C ; 86-106kPa). No exponga el dispositivo a corrientes de agua, agua a presión o agua salada.

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Nightmares and Dreams

It is an idyllic location on the northern continuation of the Way of St. James, in the middle of nature but still very close to Santiago de Compostela. Along the cascading Sarela River we discover a large overgrown ruin, a 200 year old tannery. Tannery complex on the Sarela River The house of Otero Pombo

Plants and weeds have taken over the caved-in roofs and crumbling walls. A little higher on the same hill the situation is much better. There the old tannery storage houses have been restored and next to them we find a modern bungalow and a series of guestrooms. All of it was designed to become a heritage centre with workshops, a cafĂŠ, a museum and hotel. What happened to this half fulfilled dream? Why do the newly designed workshop

spaces – with already part of the future museum collection in situ – look abandoned? Why are the guest-rooms empty and why have man-sized weeds invaded the premises? The reality is a nightmare from which the protagonists cannot seem to wake up. The story started however as a pleasant and hopeful dream. Architect José Otero Pombo strongly believes in the restoration of cultural heritage sites and the possibility to turn them into sustainable businesses. The tannery complex on the Sarela River once was one of the seven tanneries responsible for much of the leather washing and dyeing in Spain. Between 1780 and the French invasion of 1808, Santiago de Compostela became one of the major manufacturing centers of the country. Otero

Pombo dreamed of a conversion of one of the tanneries combining nature, history and modern architecture. He managed to get all the paperwork and permits and started with building his residential home and the hotel guest-rooms and restoring the future workshop rooms. The last part of the restoration would change the derelict tannery section closest to the river into a museum. The first part of the project went smoothly and was a critical success. Otero Pombo received a prize for architecture during the VII Venice Biennale and the buildings were visited and praised by the most prestigious schools of architecture worldwide. Otero Pombo is unfortunately away on urgent business during our visit but, as his architect friend Angel Panero explains, trouble started brewing soon after. A decade-long battle between the architect and the authorities ensued. Even though he had all the right permits, the municipality still wanted him to remove the buildings. The plan to create a museum in the old tannery had to be abandoned.

Now the family was fighting to keep their home. In an interview with Radio Workshop, Otero Pombo explained that he feels “helpless” in a situation he describes as “an absurdity.” The judicial decisions show that citizens “are unprotected.” His son Alvaro knows what he means. He shows us around the complex, which feels lost and fragile on a wintry February day. Alvaro remembers that ever since he was a small child,

The workshop spaces are abandoned The guest rooms The derelict tannery building on the river

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Everything can be reused

Pontepedriña tannery

Architect Angel Panero

there were tensions about the family losing their home and their dream. Now, after years of lawsuits and legal procedures, the axe has finally fallen and the demolition of the site has become inevitable. Probably the architect will get some financial compensation for his efforts, but the dream is lost forever. It is hard to maintain your passion and enthusiasm when your life’s work is slipping through your fingers. This tannery may be lost, but there is more uplifting news from the Pontepedriña tannery along the same river. This heritage site was also bought by José Otero Pombo for future restoration. Due to the troubled circumstances surrounding his home, he sold the property and now his architect friend Angel Panero is transforming the old buildings into a training centre and school. Work is progressing

at a high speed and he optimistically hopes the school will open its doors in June 2016. The former 18th century tannery is a spectacular 8 million Euro project with many of the original elements still in place. The rehabilitation included new architectural structures but also the restoration of existing ones. Next to one of the buildings lies a huge pile of what at first glance seems to be construction waste but turns out to be valuable building materials. Angel Panero explains; “We remove all the old materials from the buildings and try to reuse as much as we can. You do not have to use the whole beam for instance, you can use a good bit for planks or ornaments.” It is a large undertaking with surprises along the way. The old dyeing vats for instance turned out to be home to an endangered toad. The derelict house next to the tannery once had a beautifully designed garden. There are plans to change the building into a garden café but they are still looking for an interested party who has the time, money and patience to change this promising ruin into a successful business. Angel Panero, in his role as architect of the Technical Office of the Consortium of Santiago, is

proud of this first school in Spain to train over 2,000 heritage professionals in different specialties of wood, stone, wrought iron or metalworking. It is a project that will have a large impact on the local community. The mayor, Agustin Hernandez, noted that should be seen as “an opportunity for promoting active policies of training to create qualified and stable employment. It is a strategic tool to fight unemployment, boost the local economy and generate wealth and opportunities associated with the rehabilitation and preservation of historical heritage.” The successful restoration of this tannery, one of Otero Pombo’s other dreams, may give his enduring nightmare a small silver lining.

Modern structures are part of the renovation project

EUROPEAN HERITAGE LABEL 2016

The European Heritage Label is given by the the European Commission and highlights outstanding heritage sites with a particular European dimension, celebrating and symbolising European integration, ideals and history. The European Heritage Label Ceremony took place on 13 April, 2015 in the Solvay Library, Brussels in the presence of Tibor Navaracsics, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport. During the ceremony the European Commission presented the European Heritage Label to the following sites:

• The Neanderthal Prehistoric site and Krapina Museum (Croatia)

• The Historic Ensemble of the University of Tartu (Estonia)

• The Olomouc Premyslid Castle and Archdiocesan Museum (Czech Republic)

• Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music (Hungary)

• The Sagres Promontory (Portugal) • The Imperial Palace (Austria)

• Mundaneum (Belgium) • WWI Eastern Front Cemetery N°123 (Poland) • The European District of Strasbourg (France)

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Château en Espagne by Mervyn Samuel The French expression Château en Espagne refers to a pipe dream, a fantasy, yet in Spain there really are castles and palaces that speak to the imagination while also encapsulating many elements of the Cultural Heritage of Europe and of lands far beyond.

The Alcázar of Seville The famous gardens

During the 19th century Washington Irving, a Romantic traveller from New England, responded to the evocative beauty of Granada by writing his Tales of the Alhambra, and his example inspired me to emulate him, almost two centuries later, with Tales of the Royal Alcázar of Seville. The Spanish word alcázar refers to a fortified residence, normally a royal palace as in the case of Seville. It is derived directly from an Arabic word usually rendered as ksar, and the origins of the Alcázar of Seville as a royal seat

lie during the early 11th century when, following the implosion of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Islamic Spain dissolved into a

mosaic of warring states. The Governor of Seville became de facto an independent ruler, and for two generations the city was

visitors and to inspire artists and writers.

the capital of one of the larger territorial units in this complex and constantly shifting puzzle. The second of these Arab monarchs was Al Mutamid, known in popular tradition as the ‘Poet King’, and his Alcázar was renowned as a seat of poetry and refinement, yet his reign ended in exile. His dynasty and palaces were swept away by two successive waves of invasion from North Africa in the 11th and 12th centuries, and the buildings we see today date mainly from different periods after the Castilian reconquest of 1248. However, some of them retain the strong ‘Moorish’ influence of the

Mudéjar style, created by Muslim craftsmen for a Christian king, in this case Pedro I. The upper floor of his palace is still the residence of the Spanish monarchs when in Seville, and the Alcázar is considered the oldest royal palace in Europe still in use for its original purpose. So it is that an impressive collection of buildings from different periods and cultures, linked to a series of patios and gardens containing plants from many areas of the world, has evolved over a millennium to enchant successive generations of

Ferdinand and Isabel the Catholic spent long periods of residence in the palace, where the Queen gave birth to her son and intended heir, Prince Juan, though he predeceased her. She commissioned an Italian master tile maker, Francisco Nicoluso (from Pisa), to decorate a small oratory on the upper floor of the Alcázar, and henceforth the flat polychrome tiles he created exercised a marked influence on the already long-established production and design of glazed tiles in Seville. One of the most cosmopolitan moments of the palace’s history was the wedding of the Emperor Charles V and Isabel of Portugal, in March 1526. Courtiers, clerics and ambassadors from many parts of Europe congregated for the festivities which, with a pious recess for the proper observation of Holy Week, lasted until May. This is the time of year when the air of Seville is heavy with the perfume of azahar, the flower of the ubiquitous orange trees, the

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Detail interior Alcázar

art and theatre, and we can imagine that the plays performed there would have included those of Tirso de Molina (Fray Gabriel Téllez, of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy) such as El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra, origin of the Don Juan legend, one of European culture’s great archetypes.

Detail of tiles in the Alcázar gardens

fruit of which is the basis of the bitter orange marmalade without which no English breakfast is complete.

Rainwater pool under the palace

Philip IV, the last Habsburg king to visit Seville (in 1624), ordered a theatre to be built in one of the courtyards of the Alcázar. This was the ‘Golden Age’ of Spanish

Following the change of dynasty due to the results of the War of the Spanish Succession, Philip V established his principal residence in the Alcázar from 1729 to 1733, during which time the old palace became the centre of European diplomacy during the negotiation of the Treaty of

Seville (1729), and again during the preparations for the Treaty of Vienna (1731). It was also a fine setting for the music of Domenico Scarlatti, who was in attendance on the king during these years known as the “royal lustrum”. Over the centuries, many are the ambassadors who have visited or even resided for a time in the Alcázar of Seville. One of the earliest was Ibn Khaldun who arrived in 1364 representing Mohammed V, Sultan of Granada, on an embassy to Pedro I of Castile. He seems to have remained in Seville for at least one year, before departing to resume the stormy course of his adventurous life as diplomat, theologian, historian and pilgrim. From much further away, in 1614 Hasekura Tsunenaga arrived in representation of Date Masemune, Daimyo or feudal lord of Sendai in the northeast of Japan. The aims of this Keicho Embassy were religious, economic and geopolitical. The group led by Tsunenaga, consisting mainly of Catholics, aimed to negotiate a trade treaty with the Spanish court and

The Cathedral of Seville on the Plaza del Triunfo, part of the Unesco World Hertage Site Archive of the Indies Interior Archive of the Indies, part of the Unesco World Hertage Site

then continue to Rome to meet with Pope Paul V. For a month the whole entourage lived in the Alcázar, being feted and entertained royally. However, during their long absence the situation was changing rapidly in Japan, and when they finally returned to their home country it was to meet criticism and, in some cases, martyrdom. More fortunate was Abul Abbas Ahmar ben El Mehdi Al-Ghazzal, who arrived at the palace in 1766 as representative of Mohammed III ben Abdallah al-Qatib, Sultan of Morocco, to negotiate a peace treaty and exchange of prisoners with King Charles III. He arrived with a large retinue and gifts in the form of Arab horses, dromedaries and camels, all of which caused a considerable impression as they processed through the streets of Seville to take up residence at the

Alcázar. His mission was entirely successful, a treaty was signed in 1767 and the ambassador returned home with over one hundred freed galley slaves.

movement of discoverers, traders and administrators, missionaries and adventurers, artists and musicians, passing to and from New Spain (Mexico) and Peru.

The Alcázar of Seville had an even more long-lasting relationship with the overseas territories of the Spanish Crown as the city was and is a sea port due to the navigable nature of the River Guadalquivir, and in 1503 Ferdinand and Isabel established a House of Contracts, situated in the palace itself, to control trade and settlement with “the Indies”, as the newlydiscovered lands were known. Thus, for the next two centuries Seville was the “port and gateway of the Indies”, and the palace witnessed a continuous

It is no coincidence that nowadays the Archive of the Indies, where much historical research on the history of the Americas and the Philippine Islands must begin, is located beside the Alcázar in the heart of Seville. On the same square, Plaza del Triunfo, stands the Cathedral, and all three monuments figure on the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites. In few cases is such recognition more appropriate due to their combined intercultural and international projection over so many centuries.

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He was an eight-year-old boy when, straight from school, he would rush to the salt fields that were owned by his family. It was more of an adventure and a game than something even vaguely resembling work.

The Salt of the Earth

Añana salt man demonstrating his skills

One of the traditional salt men of Gesaltza Añana in the North of Spain smiles as he demonstrates how the salt flats should be watered, with a brisk wrist technique that takes generations to perfect.

Many hundreds of rectangular salt terraces line the hills of this literal table mountain. Each owner has his or her own reservoir with brine water, and a bucket on the end of a smart contraption with a counterweight that makes it easy to haul the salty water into the shallow reservoirs. The brine then needs the Spanish sun and Atlantic winds to evaporate properly and leave the precious salt crystals. The stirring of the thickening and crystallizing water is vitally important, as you need a balanced surface to make good salt. The conditions are ideal from March until September. When all is set and done and the right weather conditions have prevailed, the salt is carefully swept into a trapdoor that leads to a storage room, which can only be accessed with a large, personalised wooden key that looks like the mother of all keys. The Añana salt men have seen the decline of their local industry. A few years ago the community was slowly dying. The salt industry in the valley never really stopped The Valle Salado de Añana Foundation centre and shop

Valle Salado (Salt Valley) Balanced construction to get the brine water from the well to the salt terraces

and the knowledge was never lost, but in the last part of the 20th century, only a few of the salt flats were in operation. The young and ambitious left the region and the long-term prospects of the village seemed bleak. It was just another town where the traditional industry had all but disappeared. Something had to be done and the Valle Salado de AĂąana Foundation was set up to revive the community and its ancient salt industry. Their goal was to strengthen the community by combining old traditions with a modern sense of business. The aim was to pass the salt to the next generation. The ambitious recovery project set out to preserve the historic landscape, produce high quality salt suitable for todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s markets and culinary needs and to use

all that as a driving force of the social, economic and tourist development of the town and the region. Now, the local community feels revived and is reconnecting with their ancient roots. The salt men are back on their terraces, teaching the younger generations. In a modern sorting facility, the local women are sifting through the salt crystals to remove anything that is not pure salt. Michelin Star restaurants and food companies have adopted several salt flats to guarantee their exclusive access. The Foundation has introduced an annual celebration of the history of the region with prehistoric fires and re-enactments from the Roman period. The design shop sells everything from bath-salts to special olive-salt to the over 70.000 visitors a year. The valley is back in business.

The Foundation also extensively researches the origins of the salt flats of AĂąana and there is still a lot to discover. The source of the salt mines lies in the brine springs high on the mountain. The water that bubbles up in large wells, comes from an ancient seabed, deep beneath the surface. Interestingly enough, next to the salty water source, fresh water springs flow abundantly, creating a unique flora and fauna. It is a strange combination of salt and fresh water. This geological rarity is recognised under the RAMSAR convention and is considered a Wetland of International Importance. It is even home to an endemic variety of brine shrimp. Recent discoveries have dated human use of the salt mines to an even more remote past than

Fragments of prehistoric clay pots Brine well Luxury salt products for every taste Several test salt terraces

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A Casa de Aldán Interior Inner courtyard Modern bungalows in the bay of Aldán

A Casa de Aldán won, in 2003, the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards The jury applauded the careful rehabilitation work of architect Alfonso Penela of a century old salt-fish factory on the West-coast of Spain into a rural tourism house. Materials of cedar and oxidised steel and glass, chosen for their resistance to the effects of the nearby salt water, create a stylish as well as homely atmosphere. The interior of the rooms and hallways enhances the simple and solid remains of the old factory. The architect also created a series of modern bungalows in the bay of Aldán, which sit well within the traditional environment of a fishing village.

Protective salt layers

Sorting the salt

was previously assumed. The history of the mines can now be traced back almost 7,000 years. Prehistoric men used a very different method to dry the brine. They cooked it in clay pots until all the water was evaporated. Then they would break the pot to collect the salt crystals. If we climb under the ancient salt tables, we discover that the reddish mud is much more than that. It is an archaeological site containing the fragments of thousands of prehistoric clay pots. The terraces themselves also have an interesting story to tell. Originally they were constructed of wood en filled with a layer of clay before the salty water was led to it. Later the tables were made of concrete. Not a big success as they became too heavy and started to crack and collapse. They experimented with pebbles and now they are testing tiles. So far it seems a promising technique as they can be easily replaced if they break.

intricate system of levers and pulleys. The wood is covered with white and orange-brown salt crystals but is otherwise in a remarkable condition, even though some of the pipes are hundreds of years old. On the other hand, the modern railings, which are made of the same wood, are already disintegrating after a few years. The researchers are now looking into ways to market this accidental discovery as a wood preservation technique, yet another use of the brine springs of Añana.

The set-up of the whole valley smartly uses gravity and miles and miles of hollowed tree trunks to lead the brine water from its source to the reservoirs. It is an

The Valle Salado (Salt Valley) is quickly becoming a key element in the tourist, cultural, economic and social enhancement of the Álava region. It is a prime example of a successful community project that combines heritage with private and public partnerships. It is a story of ancient craftsmanship, biodiversity, sustainability and creativity, all with a magic pinch of salt. Their success was rewarded with the 2014 Grand Prix of the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards.

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World Heritage Heritage Convention

The Art of Flamenco

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by Yvonne van der Bijl* Passionate cries erupt from scowling proud dancers in bright coloured dresses with polka dots, wild guitars and spirited clapping join in the spectacle: Flamenco, the untamed heart of Spanish culture. It was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.

From left to right Belén Maya Eva la Yerbagüena Olga Pericet

*Yvonne van der Bijl (text & photography). She won the first prize and an extra prize as flamenco photographer during the II Salon Internacional de Fotografía Flamenca in Jerez de la Frontera in 2000. She has a chapter about her life and work in ‘La Historia de la Fotografía Flamenca’ 2006 by Carlos Arbelos

Flamenco consists of Cante (song), Baile (dance) and Toque (instruments, especially the guitar). The basic and oldest form of flamenco is Cante especially the Cante Jondo (deep song), a wild, primitive cry which can be performed without an instrument, a palo seco. The song has an unfamiliar oriental style and is therefore not easily accepted by a western audience. You have to learn to appreciate the different palos (styles) which each have their own atmosphere. It helps when you have a command of the Spanish language to understand the lyrics of the song. Generally more appreciated is the dance and the guitar playing.

The dance is like the song: the expression of feelings and individuality is characterized by the male aggressiveness and the female gracefulness. The male dancer is focussed on his feet, the zapateados (footwork) as a symbol of power, stability and manliness. The female dancer is concentrating on her arms and circular hand movements to express her elegance. The guitar was at first only used as accompaniment. Later on it also became a solo instrument. The technique of flamenco is very specific and based on particular styles called palos. The backbone is the compas (rhythm) that can be supported

by palmas (clapping) and/or cajón (drumbox). Most of the palos (styles) in dance are the same as in song. The two most dramatic dances with mature themes like death, lost love and fear are the Sigueriya and the Solea which form the Baile Jondo (Deep Dance) or Baile Grande (Big Dance). More lively, lighthearted and comical aspects are found in the Buleria, Tangos and Alegria which form the Baile Chico (Small Dance).

around the year 1000 in the Punjab region in India when gypsies migrated towards Africa and Europe. There is a strong relation between the North Indian Katak dance in its use of feet to express the rhythm. It also resemblances Indian Hindu temple dances in the position of the body and the fingers.

Flamenco is a passionate art in which all kinds of emotions are captured, from deep sorrow about a lost love, death, poverty, persecution and injustice to the joy of falling in love or a festive celebration. Practically every good flamenco performance contains temperament, passion, expression and power. When this reaches a climax (duende), the ultimate goal and essence of flamenco is reached. This magical moment is an ecstatic experience for both the artists and the audience. You feel goose pimples or a sudden need to cry.

ordered the gypsies to live in separate neighbourhoods in the cities of Spanish South such as Seville, Granada and Cordoba. In the same period other ethnic groups such as the Jews and the Moors were also oppressed and persecuted. Out of their sorrow a new fusion of artistic expression evolved. The tradition of romances (ballads) was throw into the mix as were Latin American influences. By the 1770s flamenco was all the rage.

Flamenco is a mixture of different cultural traditions and influences. Flamenco started

The famous Spanish artist Féderico García Lorca organised in 1922 the Festival del Cante Jondo to preserve the flamenco puro (pure flamenco). As a result of the success abroad and the rise of tablaos (flamenco clubs) and Vicente Amigo

Between the end of the 15th and 18th century, the Spanish kings

In the 19th century the different styles of the song were further developed. The Golden Age of Flamenco was between 1860 and 1900 with the explosive popularity of the café cantantes.

festivals, flamenco slowly started to conquer the world.

From left to right

Nowadays it is recognised as one of Spain’s most important tangible heritage tradition at home and abroad, in its real pure form of course but also as flamenco nuevo (new flamenco) which contains a new, exciting mixture of cultures and styles.

Sara Baras

Joaquin Grilo Antonio el Pipa Esperanza Fernández Rosario La Tremendita (below)

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The road map of the different routes

The Long and Winding Road The Way of St. James Maybe the best manner in which to describe the Way of St. James is to compare it with life itself; it is more about the journey than the destination. The long and winding roads that lead to Santiago de Compostela through the North of Spain have captured the imagination of the world.

St. James the Great by Rembrandt

The Camino de Santiago, as The Way of St. James is known in the Spanish speaking world, is to some a personal challenge of endurance or a religious experience, to others a sightseeing exercise or a shared adventure. One thing is for sure, whatever the reason, the pilgrimage to the shrine of apostle St. James

the Great offers a unique chance to explore the wealth of the monuments and natural sites along the route. As with the story of the Holy Grail, the origins of the Way of St. James are a complex and fascinating collection of historic hearsay

and jumps of faith of Olympic proportions. St. James the Great was one of the Twelve Apostles and according to legend he travelled to Spain to spread the good word. In around the year 44 he was beheaded in Jerusalem. His body was returned to Spain by his two disciples. They landed at the small harbour town of Iria Flavia (now Pádron), from where the Saint was transported to a cemetery inland. Due to the persecution of the Christians by the Romans, his tomb was abandoned in the 3rd century. Six centuries later, in 814, the local hermit Pelagius witnessed strange lights and noises coming from the ancient Celtic site, where the tombs of St. James and his two disciples were rediscovered. The place became known as Santiago de Compostela. The early pilgrims may have used the old and relatively safe Roman road through the mountains for their pilgrimage to the tomb. This route is still known today as the ‘Old Camino’ and leads along the North via Vitoria-Gasteiz and Aguilar de Campoo to Villafranca del Bierzo. The North of Spain has thousands of Romanesque churches, hermitages and monasteries. In 2013 the Intervention Plan “Románico Norte” won a EU Prize for Cultural heritage / Europa Nostra Awards. The project centers on the restoration of 54 Romanesque monuments in the northern areas of Palencia and Burgos. Its aim is the protection of cultural sites, raising awareness and reviving public engagement in the historic landscape of the region. They not only want to conserve the heritage, but also lay the foundations for sustainable economic growth.

The Way of St. James is nowadays much more than the four original roads. More and more routes have been added. The Way has also been branching South. It used to go as far as Seville, but recently also the city Cadiz was added this route, starting at the Santiago Church in the city. Devised by the Asociación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago de Sevilla, the 173km Camino is probably the flattest of all the Ways of St. James

The Way of St. James (photo by Jesus Solana) Pilgrim at the famous Alto del Perdón sculpture (photo by José Antonio Gil Martínez)

4 Along the ‘Old Camino’, Aguilar de Campoo The bridge in Sahagun crossing the Cea River Pilgrims at the Iron Cross Astorga Cathedral on the Way of St. James

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Royal Collegiate Church and Basilica of San Isidoro in Léon on the Way of St. James

The Holy Grail

The funeral chapel of the kings of León Detail of the funeral chapel with the Grail The Chalice of Doña Urraca

Some joke there are churches in Spain which do not claim to possess the Holy Grail, the cup Christ used at the last supper with his disciples. Although an exaggeration, there are a few very famous chalices in Spain, such as the agate cup of the Cathedral of Valencia. In 2014 a new challenger entered the ancient arena. According to Margarita Torres who together with José Ortega del Río wrote about her discovery in her 2014 book The Kings of the Grail, there can be little doubt. The clues were literally all over the Royal Collegiate Church and Basilica of San Isidoro in the city of Léon in the North of Spain. Even above the door we can find hidden references to the grail. The Chalice of Doña Urraca, an agate cup enclosed in a golden ceremonial goblet could be the real thing. Torres says: “Now I am not saying that this is the real Holy Grail that was used during the Last Supper, I am saying that this is the cup early Christians believed was the cup of Christ. No one knows

anything about the whereabouts of the grail in the first centuries. But we can prove that this was the cup the Christians kept safe for hundreds of years.” Torres is one of the very few people who held the cup of Christ in her hands, when it was removed for research purposes. She resisted the impulse to drink from it, but she says the experience was nonetheless unforgettable and deeply personal. León is an important city on the Way of St. James. The funeral chapel of the kings of León in the Royal Collegiate Church and Basilica of San Isidoro is one of the most beautiful examples of 12th Romanesque art in the world. It shows key elements of the New Testament, with clear references to the Grail. “Our most important discoveries came from Arabic documents in Cairo. We found out that the Grail was given to an emir in Spain to thank him for help during a famine in Egypt. It was later given to King Ferdinand I of Leon as a peace offering,” Margarita Torres explains

Via Verdes

with passion, while showing other Islamic objects found in the treasure chamber of the cathedral. “We also know from Arabic texts that Saladin (1137-93 red.) asked for a shard of the cup to heal his daughter. It turned out that a small fragment was illegally chiselled off by one of the workmen before it was shipped to Spain. When we restored the cup we discovered that it was indeed chipped.” Real or not, the beautiful cup adorned by jewels and gold, now has his own room in the museum of the Royal Collegiate Church and Basilica of San Isidoro. The chalice has been dated to somewhere between 200BC and AD 100, well within the right time bracket. We will probably never know if The Chalice of Doña Urraca is the real thing, but it seems clear that the rulers of León were convinced it was and that they left clues, clear to the true believers but invisible to all their enemies.

There are many attractive walking routes through Spain. In 2004 the Spanish Railways Foundation (FFE) won a EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards for their Vias Verdes. Since 1993 they have coordinated and promoted the Vias Verdes (the Spanish Greenways Programme). Railroads which are no longer in use have been transformed into routes for cycling and walking. The development of the Greenways has had a dynamic effect on the local communities, stimulating rural tourism and leisure activities while at the same time creating employment opportunities.

Left Burgos is an important city on the Way of St. James and a masterpiece of Spanish Gothic architecture. The Burgos Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Capilla del Condestable (Constable’s Chapel) in the cathedral was restored by architect, politician and heritage professional Pío García-Escudero Márquez. It was recognised with a Europa Nostra Medal in 1996.

The Capilla del Condestable (Constable’s Chapel)

The path the pilgrims follow in the church

Below left The silver reliquary containing the remains of St. James and his two disciples (designed by José Losada in 1886)

In 1140 the Codex Calixtinus was published, part of which is still considered to be the official guide book for the four pilgrims’ routes listed in the book, originating in France and converging at Puente la Reina, not far from Pamplona. From there, the route continues through the North of Spain from Burgos, Carrión de los Condes, Sahagún, León and Astorga to Compostela. Through the ages, the exact location of the earthly remains of the Saint and his comrades has been lost again, only to be rediscovered in 1879. Pope Leo XIII confirmed the find in 1884 and the modern Way of St. James was a fact. Although initially popular, by the 1980s very few pilgrims walked the Way. Slowly but surely, however, the route was rediscovered. It was named the first European Cultural Route by the Council of Europe. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Famous and not so famous people started to find redemption in the long and winding road from France to the North of Spain. As actor Martin Sheen said about his personal

journey to Santiago: “We go alone but we connect with the world.” Nowadays many hundreds of thousands walk the Way, or rather Ways of St. James as there are many different routes. Every year more visitors, especially from the Americas, follow the famous scallop shell signs – the historic emblem of the road – and receive their Credentials to prove they are walking the whole way, from one official stop to the next. The Way of St. James has become one of the most celebrated symbols of Europe’s

cultural heritage and an important flywheel for positive change for the local economies and communities.

The Cathedral on Obradoiro Square, Santiago de Compostela

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Two companies, very different and similar at the same time, are both finding new ways to adjust to the challenges of the 21st century. The famous classic brands Freixenet and Osborne have become great innovators to keep their clients happy and their business booming. Both are steeped in history and are proud of their heritage. Both however have also realised that business as usual is simply not an option and have embraced new ideas and branched out into new territories and new markets.

New Message in a Bottle

Osborne is synonymous with sherry, the famous brandyfortified wine from the south of Spain. The company has one of the most recognisable logos in the world. Over the years, the proud black bull has become much more than an advertisement for sherry. Originally the bull was designed as a billboard. The hundreds of larger-thanlife signs immediately grabbed people’s attention. The local

It is not an easy task to stay relevant in today’s fast moving global market where reputations are fragile and competition is fierce. Centuries of tradition and experience can be swept away by a few internet trolls or misquoted tweets. New start-ups can change the playing field overnight.

Osborne billboard

Osborne wineries in El Puerto de Santa María

artist responsible, Manolo Prieto Benitez (1912-91) had a lovehate relationship with his most famous creation. People almost always asked him about his bull, never about his other works of art and design... In 1988 countryside billboards were forbidden, but a public

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opens the grand doors of the old Osborne cellars with a dramatic gesture. “Here we find the 200+ year old tradition of the brand.” Row after row and corridor after corridor are filled with caskets of sherry wine. Through the deep, dark and sweet smell of thousands of barrels of sherry, Lanza leads the way as if on a treasure hunt. There is much to discover. Many of the oak casks are signed and the barrels read like a who’s who of the rich and famous.

outcry forced the authorities to make an exception for the iconic Osborne bull. It was no longer an advertisement for a brand, it had become cultural heritage. For many people around the world the bull had even become a symbol of Spain. Iván Lanza, director of communications of the Osborne winery in Puerto de Santa María explains how loved the logo is inside and outside the company. “We are a family-owned company and we keep our eyes and minds open, and we trust our instincts. The bull is more than our company logo, it is a Spanish icon and we have created a museum to honour this legacy.” The museum is housed in the bodegas’ cellars and is as colourful as the Osborne

bull is black. There is a bull designed by Keith Haring, a bottle designed by Picasso, haute couture in the form of the bull’s head, even an electric guitar in the same shape. The logo has been used as artistic inspiration for almost anything imaginable. “This is the great surprise,” Lanza proudly states as he

Osborne Bull Museum A bull designed by Keith Haring Classic bottles Haute couture in the form of the bull’s head

The name ‘sherry’ comes from what the English once thought was the right pronunciation of Jerez de la Frontera, a city with wine making traditions lost in the mists of time. The official and legally protected sherry region lies in the triangle between Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María, where the Osborne winery has its headquarters. Making sherry is a complicated step by step process. Palomino grapes are aged under a bed of

Bottle design by Picasso

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was. We do everything we can to promote it. Vintage wines are becoming more and more important in today’s market. The highest quality is expensive but does a lot better that the regular quality. A 30-40 year old sherry is as attractive as an old whisky.”

The old Osborne cellars Map of the sherry triangle between Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María Osborne shop in Malaga

yeast. The wine is matured, using an ingenious aging system called criaderas y solera. Lanza dunks a dipper into a cask of fermenting sherry with a quick flick of the wrist like a cormorant diving for a fish, to show the clear, caramel coloured wine hiding below a layer of yeast. “It is a wonderful, traditional product and we are seeing that it is now slowly making a comeback. For years sherry drinking was not as fashionable as it once

Osborne also makes very different wines; whites, reds and rosés, including a Rioja. They own restaurants and shops. They are also a main producer of Iberian ham. Their acorn fed pigs in Jabugo are a delicacy since 1879. They also make gin, rum, a very successful tonic water, whiskey and vodka. They even moved into fashion. Lanza and his team follow the latest trends in wine-drinking. “The taste in wine changes not as fast as the weather, but you have to stay very alert. Our management is active and handson, we stay close to our customers and we don’t negotiate on quality,” he explains the strategy of the company. Embracing the past with one foot in the future has definitely paid off for Osborne.

Freixenet is such a popular brand of cava that it is easy to have the preconception that somewhere along the line to mass production (80 million bottles to 130 countries), traditions would have been thrown out of the window. The truth, however, is rather the opposite. The story of Freixenet is a fascinating story of family values, hardship and endurance. The wine-making origins of the Ferrer Bosch family, who are still at the helm of the company today, go back over a 150 years. La Freixenada, their ancestral estate, has recently been lovingly restored and shows the strong roots of the family within the Sant Sadurní d’Ánoia region, west of Barcelona. After the notorious Phylloxera crisis (see special segment within this article ed.) that wiped out much of Spain’s wineries, Pedro Ferrer and Dolores Salsa decided that a new future may lie with sparkling wines in the style of French Champagne. The first bottle of Freixenet cava was made in 1914 in the charming Casa Sala farmhouse which still can be visited today and still produces a high quality cava using a traditional grape pressing machine from France. Squeezing may be a more accurate description as the impressive machine with a light touch makes

105 Sant Sadurní d’Ánoia is the capital of cava. There are over 80 different producers and together they work to keep the conditions as good as they can be. 80% of the local population is dependent on the cava industry and Freixenet alone employs 500 people. They sponsor anything from hockey teams and the restoration of heritage to the renovation of local schools. They promote wine tourism as well as social participation and education.

the grapes burst open softly without the seeds being squashed as well. Jep Bargalló, Head of Institutional Relations and Events, explains how the softpress is one of the secrets of good cava-making. There are however many more hurdles to overcome from vine to wine. “First you have to ferment the cava like you would any wine. Then you bottle it with yeast and let it ferment again. You store the bottles at a certain angle, neck first. You have to realise that the wine is alive. Pressure is everything. If you lose pressure, you lose the balance of the wine and that is the end of it. After a while, depending on the quality, the process is stabilised

and the yeast sits under the cork. We then freeze the bottleneck, we open the bottle and the pressure neatly pushes the cork and all the yeast out. Before we had developed this technique it had to be done by trained professionals who, with a quick arm movement, could separate the yeast and cork from the wine.” The Casa Sala farm still produces the top lines of the Freixenet brand such as the Grand Reserve and the Reserva Real. Bargalló takes me to the heart of the cava district in Sant Sadurní d’Ánoia. The main winery of the company has been based here since 1923. It was tough going in the beginning. The Spanish Civil War deeply affected the family.

In the 1860s tiny plant lice named Phylloxera vastatrix found a new home on the grapevines of France. It was a disaster for the wine industry of gargantuan proportions. All the plants died and no solution was in sight. Initially, Spain was not worried. The French production had halted and everybody started to switch to Spanish wines. But the bug quickly crossed the Pyrenees and the results were even more devastating than in France. In Spain, people’s property rights were related to crop yield. No produce, no land and families lost farms their ancestors had worked on for centuries. Within a few years the Spanish wine growers were completely ruined. Only when new varieties were grafted on unaffected American vines could the production slowly regain its footing and start to rebuild from scratch.

Founder Pedro Ferrer was killed and his son went missing. His wife Dolores Salsa continued with her daughter Pilar and managed to keep the business going under extremely difficult circumstances. Pilar’s young son

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Interior La Freixenada Traditional grape pressing machine from France in Casa Sala Freixenet casks

Casa Sala Royal cava reserve in the ancient Freixenet cellars Modern times

Josep Ferrer i Sala took charge in 1947 and modernised the brand. He created the popular Carta Nevada and Cordon Negro. He embraced the possibilities of television and promoted the wine across the globe. Slowly but surely Freixenet branched out and became a world leader in sparkling wine. The Freixenet cellars in Sant Sadurní d’Ánoia are a seemingly endless labyrinth of bottleracks stacked to the roof, an underground city of wine. Freixenet was always ahead of the curve and they modernised and perfected the production process early on. Bargalló: “The fact that you are a historic company and make a traditional product, should not mean you cannot innovate. We still turn the top line bottles by hand in

the classic way, but we also use advanced robotics and the most modern technologies, many of which we helped develop.” While driving around in a sort of golf cart through a maze of cellars, he explains the philosophy of the company. “The soil is our heritage. It gives cava its unique flavour, but the heart of cava lies somewhere else. Cava is not a wine to bottle up for years. Our tradition says you need to enjoy life now. You make cava not to store it, you make it to drink it and share it. That moment is important. The real taste of cava is the quality of that unique shared experience. Let me give you a personal example. Some of my family members make their own wine and when I come to visit we cook, we eat, we drink, we discuss. The wine

is the wrong temperature and it is served in the wrong glass. We drink it under the wrong circumstances surrounded by the strong smells of the dinner we are cooking. But it is still the perfect wine for that moment, a perfect taste which mixes memories with emotions. That is what I believe cava should be about.” Much the same as sherry, cava has had a difficult time attracting the new generation. At the same time they have found new markets by linking the brand to gastronomy and luxury products and valuing up the quality with new cavas such as the Trepat. The Freixenet group also produces other non-sparkling wines in Spain and across the globe with vineyards in Argentina, Mexico, the USA, France and Australia. A sparkling future lies ahead.

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Wonder Walls

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For centuries sturdy, high walls and a heavily armoured citadel were fine attributes for a city aiming for long term survival. But with the advance of modern artillery and aviation, the once so necessary defences were rendered obsolete, almost overnight.

Walls of ﾃ」ila

The bulky barriers between the insiders and the outsiders became obstacles for the modern city, impending the growing population from branching out into the countryside. Everywhere in Europe the walls came down, the moats were drained and the cities opened up to the world. Luckily however, not everywhere did the municipalities act with such haste. In some cases the change was just too expensive, in others the slow level of industrialisation or population growth did not demand such drastic measures. In Spain we can still find many excellent examples of amazing walled cities, which withstood the test of time and still hold the local population in their stony embrace.

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Being a walled city in the 21st century helps to tick all the right boxes for a successful UNESCO World Heritage bid. Segovia for instance, is a good example of this, as it is famous for its cathedral and aqueduct but also because it maintained an almost complete set of walls. Similarly, beautiful Cáceres is surrounded by more than thirty towers from the Moorish period. Toledo may not have the complete set but they are still an important part of its UNESCO city scape. Cuenca is famous for its casas colgadas, the houses dangerously dangling on the verge of the cliff-side, but it is also surrounded by medieval walls. And then there are still many walled cities that have not (yet) made it unto the UNESCO list, such as Plasencia, Niebla, Ciudad Rodrigo or Galisteo, to name but a few. The two finest walled cities in Spain however, are prime examples of World Heritage. Ávila is within easy reach of Madrid. If you see its impressive walls from the right angle in the evening sun, it seems as if you have entered a time machine by accident. The city

The master plan for the Renaissance walls of Ibiza won in 2004 the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards

Panorama of the walls

The interdisciplinary study of historical documents resulted in a plan for the preservation and restoration of the walls, as well as a plan for the protection of the walls and its surroundings as part of the future development of Ibiza’s historical assets. This study, with a strong emphasis on the importance of historical documents and technical understanding of the fortification models, could be considered a methodological example for other fortifications of the same era. It has already been presented as a model in the Americas, where fortifications built by Europeans are among the most treasured heritage monuments.

the right angle, from other viewpoints the messy, modern urbanisation has taken its toll.

looks like a picture perfect example of a medieval town. This is an ancient town where Jewish, Christian and Islamic culture co-created a meltingpot which is truly unique, even considering Spain’s rich monumental heritage. You can access the walls and walk on top of the ramparts, which give an excellent view of the churches, squares and 87 towers of the city. Unfortunately it is not entirely good news. The city shows its historical splendour only from

The ancient Roman city Lucus was a military stronghold for this region in the North of Spain. In the 3rd century a protective ring of massive walls was built to keep the town safe from attacks. Modern Lugo is the only city in the world still completely surrounded by Roman walls, although one may suspect that some of them are more medieval than Roman. The bulky defensive structure literally separates the modern city from the historic one. It is no wonder that the walls are popular walkways. They are so wide (10-15 metres) that you could easily ride a chariot on

Impressive Roman city gate of Lugo

Lugo in the morning fog

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The Fortifications of Pamplona, another magnificent walled city of Spain, won in 2010 the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards Built between the 16th and 18th centuries, they represent one of Europe’s best conserved bastion enclosures. Their decline began in the 19th century when they became obsolete from a military point of view. Large-scale demographic growth called for an extension of the urban grid and the demolition of part of the city walls, from 1915 to 1921, was celebrated as a major event. Since 2006 however the City Council decided to recover the entire fortified enclosure and improve the area surrounding it. The Pamplona city walls, once a defensive barrier, are now a recreational area and a place where cultural and environmental heritage come together.

UNESCO World Heritage Site Toledo does not have a full set of walls (photo by Diliff)

Not all of Lugo has been restored yet

has put some of the necessary work temporarily on hold. But the unique heritage of Lugo will, in the longer run, be at the heart of the future success of the city.

them with plenty of room to spare for pedestrians. Some houses are even built on top of them. It the early morning fog when the modern world is silenced and the roar of the constant stream of cars on the road that surrounds the walls is muted, Lugo seems a city frozen in time. Much work however, still needs to be done to restore the inner city. The development

and implementation of an integrated conservation and maintenance programme within the local community is a challenging undertaking, almost as massive as the walls itself. The city is a treasure trove of monuments dating from many periods and the economic crisis

Instead of halting the process of modernisation, the remaining walled cities of the 21st century are strong tourist and business magnets. The walls may no longer be useful, but they still make us feel a little safe and secure. In their new role, they no longer keep the strangers out but – whenever opportunity knocks at the city gates – invite them in with enthusiasm.

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Ensemble of Solovetsky Monastery, Arkhangelsk regio, Russia

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Wiki Loves Monuments by Lodewijk Gelauff, Alexander Tsirlin and Federico Leva Wiki Loves Monuments is a photography competition, organised for the sixth time in 2015, and has now collected over 1,5 million photos of monuments across the world. There are major differences in the national approaches towards cultural heritage, and volunteers organising the competition face different challenges across the world. Sometimes getting the lists of monuments is the main challenge, other times it is a legal, cultural or geographical challenge. We hope to continue spreading enthusiasm for free knowledge and cultural heritage across the world, and make information about cultural heritage available across the world. Tower of the Smolensk Kremlin, Russia

Russia – Russia faces major challenges in its internal diversity and vast geographic distances. Last year, Russian organizers boosted geographical coverage by launching a separate prize for the maximum number

of visited regions. Two participants traveled each thousands of kilometers through the whole country to cover 30 of Russia’s 85 regions, from the Amber Coast to the Pacific Coast and from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea. One of the winners, Evgeny Lazarev, told us that his 1,298 photos were an outcome of his frequent traveling by car over the last 6 years. Italy - No other country had more photographers participating to the 2015 contest and the contributed photos are accessed millions of times each month on Wikimedia sites alone. But this did not come easily – besides a lot of effort by volunteers, staff and 320 official partners, some legal challenges had to be overcome. Participants could only take photos of Pompeii and some other 3,000 items, a fraction of Italy’s cultural heritage.

Saint Michael’s Abbey, Susa valley, Piedmont region, Italy Palazzo Gambalunga (Public Library), Rimini, Italy

The main obstacle to the promotion of Italian culture is Codice Urbani, a law which forces photographers to enquire the local authority about protected status for each building, ask authorisation and pay fees if required. For objects created in the last 150 years, an additional obstacle is copyright for the architect, given the lack of freedom of panorama. To help photographers, Wikimedia Italia acquired this permission in advance for 392 custodian entities. Netherlands – The country where Wiki Loves Monuments started in 2010 has over 60,000 recognised national monuments. After four photo competitions and the wonderful donation of hundreds of thousands of photos by the cultural

heritage agency, many monuments have a free photo available. What to photograph next? The next challenge was in municipal monuments, with one slight problem: each municipality is responsible for determining and maintaining their

list. While some municipalities publish proudly lists of their local heritage, others have have not recognised local heritage, or are even reluctant to share the lists. After many phone calls and emails, volunteers managed to gather a unique database of Dutch municipal monuments with more than 80% of the municipalities covered.

Small mill ‘Windlust’, Brouwershaven, The Netherlands The ‘Flower’ neighbourhood designed by architect Willem Dudok, Hilversum, The Netherlands

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Open for Restoration The Cathedral of Vitoria-Gasteiz

The remains of the medieval walls of the city were re-discovered as a byproduct of the cathedral restorations. The restoration effort, which not only made the ancient walls visible once again but also restored the surrounding area, received a Special Mention in 2010 (EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards).

The recovered remains of the medieval walls

The permanent restoration of the 13th century fortified Gothic cathedral of Santa MarĂa Historic wall painting in the centre of town Medieval tower in the bank (Cord House) Ken Follet statue next to the Cathedral

Win an Europa Nostra Award for the restoration of the inner city? Check! Win a Special Mention in the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards for the restoration of the city walls? Check! Use the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s input to revitalize the town, with enormous graffiti displays capturing the heritage of the city? Check! Be chosen as Green Capital of the European cities to enjoy the highest number of green spaces and gardens per person? Check!

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Restoration of the Cathedral Recovered doorway of the Cathedral The new youth hostel

The ancient city of VitoriaGasteiz, the capital of the Basque Autonomous Community, has been working hard to make the city work for its people. They even installed escalators to make the climb to their almond shaped medieval city grid easier. The municipality helped restore many of the historical buildings including a medieval tower in the middle of the reception area of a bank (The Cord House) and a new youth hostel in a once derelict townhouse. They opened discussion to come to terms with some of the difficult pages of the city’s history. The town’s main heritage accomplishment however, is the embrace of their largest setback: the restoration of the cathedral. The construction of the 13th century fortified Gothic cathedral of Santa María cannot be considered as a marvel of medieval engineering. It was shortly after it was consecrated that it became clear that the structure was not as stable as intended. The support beams were under duress. The ceilings and walls showed unexpected cracks. One of the doorways needed to be bricked up for safety. The faithful soon felt

uncomfortable going to mass. Bits of masonry coming down tend to move the attention away from the appropriate kind of prayer. Over the centuries, attempts were made to restore the cathedral. Repairs were made again and again, literally papering over the cracks. Now, the city has enough of halfmeasures and opted to fix the building once and for all. It will not be a quick process. Already back in 2002 the research into the cathedral’s problems won an EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards. The stepby-step restoration based on solid research will eventually restore the cathedral, recreating the masterpiece which was once was intended. Until then however the city has decided to do something good with a bad situation. They have made the restoration process into an exciting longterm project, engaging the local community and the general public in every aspect of the work. Guided tours show tourists what is behind the walls and underneath the floors. The work of the Santa Maria Cathedral Foundation is the cultural, tourist, educational, urban, social

and economic driving power of the city. They also got a little help from Ken Follet (1949), a Welsh bestseller author of thrillers and historical novels, who became interested in the cathedral when he was doing research in VitoriaGasteiz. He helped popularise the restoration work to such an extent that a statue in his honour was erected next to the entrance. The ‘open for restoration’ approach has paid off for the city. They managed to successfully turn a weakness into a strength. The approach is a textbook example of how to smartly use heritage as a revitalising instrument with multiple benefits for local community.

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EU Commissioner Tibor Navracsics with the Grand Prix winners of the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards and Europa Nostra’s Secretary General Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović and HRH Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway

European Year of Cultural Heritage in 2018 Interview with EU Commissioner Tibor Navracsics

At the European Heritage Label ceremony

Tibor Navracsics (Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport) is a strong advocate for putting culture and cultural heritage in the heart of European policies. He believes Europe’s culture can be a catalyst for innovation, economic growth and new jobs.

He wants to empower young people of all social and cultural backgrounds to participate fully in civic and democratic life. Not a trivial mission for his relatively small team of dedicated staff. Time to catch up with the Commissioner and to ask him about his plans and strategies. And what about the European Year of Cultural Heritage in 2018? Commissioner Navracsics, you have been responsible for Culture and Cultural Heritage in the European Commission for close to two years. In your opinion, what are Europe’s biggest challenges in this field? What are the EU’s achievements of which you are most proud? Cultural heritage is inherently linked to some of the most pressing challenges that humanity faces as a whole. Global warming and climate change, conflicts and urbanisation, or the trafficking of cultural artifacts - issues like these can put cultural heritage at risk. At the same time, digitisation and the online accessibility of cultural content are shaking up traditional models, transforming value chains and calling for new approaches to our cultural and artistic heritage. It is now clear that we need to move beyond the simple physical preservation of sites. Their meaning may be still be lost forever if the knowledge embodied in them is not preserved and transmitted from generation to generation. The survival of our heritage sites depends on their becoming accessible to all. They need to become centres of knowledge, focal points for creativity and culture, and places

of community interaction and social integration. Preservation, conservation and contemporary creativity are all interlinked. I am very pleased that we now have a policy strategy linking the cultural and creative sectors with the overarching goal of economic growth and job creation in the EU. This approach is a balanced mix of support for the intrinsic value of culture and art with targeted emphasis on the economic value of these sectors, since the two can – and must – coexist.

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been nominated as the most endangered site in Europe? Can we all join forces to help the Italian authorities to adopt and implement a long-term vision and strategy to ensure a future for Venice and its Lagoon? The Synagogue in Subotica is one of the finest surviving examples of Art Nouveau religious architecture in the world and the only surviving Hungarian

As a European Commissioner you have visited many heritage sites around Europe: which one has made a particular, very personal impact on you? It is very hard to choose, given the many fascinating sites across Europe, each with their own unique character and history. I was very impressed by Wroclaw University when I saw it during a visit to the city in January for the official opening of the European Capital of Culture activities. This university is such an emblem of our shared European story, with the mix of German, Polish and other cultures that have made a lasting impact and the way it has overcome destruction and hardship. You have taken a keen interest in Europa Nostra’s 7 Most Endangered Programme and especially the endangered synagogue in Subotica (Serbia). Could you tell us about your hopes for this exceptional heritage site? And what are your thoughts on the Venice Lagoon, which has recently

Art Nouveau Jewish place of worship. Designated a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance by the Republic of Serbia, over the last decade it has benefited from restoration work and is now included in cross-border tourism itineraries along with the Hungarian city of Szeged. The site nevertheless remains at serious risk, and I hope that its designation in 2015 as one of the seven most endangered monuments in Europe by Europa Nostra and the European Investment Bank Institute will pave the way for a more strategic and holistic approach to its restoration. Venice, with its lagoon, is a living example of how people

With Erasmus students

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can interact with their natural environment over a very long period of time. It is also a unique cultural heritage site, with extraordinary architecture and one of the highest concentrations of masterpieces in the world. Yet, Venice faces great dangers like the rise in sea level due to climate change, the increasing traffic flow of large-scale container and cruise ships, and the dredging of deeper channels, to name but a few. So far there has been no agreed Management Plan for Venice. It would indeed be needed to help the Italian authorities adopt and

At ECOC in Pilsen

implement a long-term plan to safeguard the future for Venice and its lagoon. Europa Nostra enjoys a fruitful partnership with the EC through the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards. The EU organises also other prestigious award schemes to stimulate the best practices in the field of architecture, literature, and pop music. We understand you would like to give to all those European Awards an even higher importance and visibility within the EU Agenda for Culture?

The EU Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra awards are the most important recognition in the European heritage sector. Safeguarding cultural heritage demands good cooperation at all levels. We are proud of our cooperation with Europa Nostra on this prize. Europa Nostra is an important partner and I am glad we will continue working together in the coming years, We believe that the top quality work of the winners ought to be widely known and recognised, for their benefit but also because their work is a source of inspiration on how to tackle the challenges faced today by the heritage sector. In addition to the prize for cultural heritage, we organise and financially support other award schemes - in architecture, literature and rock and pop music. Through our Creative Europe programme, we cofinance hundreds of cooperation projects and platforms. The focus nowadays is also on capacitybuilding, helping artists develop international careers and find new audiences for European cultural works. As you know, last year in Oslo, together with 5 European partners, we have presented the results of a 2 year project, funded by the EC, called ‘Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe’. What can be done at the EU level to recognise more strongly the importance of cultural heritage – both tangible and intangible – for the future of Europe? Our shared heritage is a “cement” that holds the entire European “edifice” together. Europa Nostra therefore believe that heritage can help

Europe to respond – in a positive way – to the current multiple and very serious crisis. For example, by giving incentives to largescale investments in heritage-led regeneration and reconciliation throughout Europe, benefiting different communities and neighbourhoods. What is your opinion on these proposals? The “Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe” project showed the wide range of cultural, environmental, social and economic benefits of cultural heritage for Europe. It revealed that heritage attracts talented people and innovators, contributing to the prosperity of our cities and the quality of our lives. Member States and stakeholders are using the resources offered by Creative Europe. A substantial part of the funding is dedicated to heritage projects, and the other opportunities available at EU level, such as COSME and Erasmus+. Heritage-related issues are also frequently addressed by projects under Horizon 2020, while under the Structural Funds we are seeing an increase in investment in heritage preservation and valorisation, which for 2014-2020 will be in the range of EUR 6 billion. Finally, following the political agreement reached between the European Parliament, Member States and the Commission, the scope of the European Fund for Strategic Investments has been extended to projects in the area of culture, including heritage. With great interest we have been following the joint initiative taken by Vice-President

Mogherini and yourself to give much bigger importance to cultural diplomacy as a key soft power tool for EUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s external relations. Can you tell us more about these plans? Developing a strategic approach to culture in EU external relations is one of my political priorities. Culture is the hidden gem of our foreign policy. There is strong interest in the world in engaging culturally with Europe. To meet it, we need to exploit the combined potential of our policies and programmes for direct

contacts between people as well as for the cultural and creative sectors, so that new and powerful partnerships can be created alongside political and economic relations. This will help make Europe a stronger global actor. There is also an aspect that directly affects cultural heritage. Like all of us, I am horrified by the terrible loss of life and destruction of historical and cultural sites in Syria and Iraq, perpetrated for ideological reasons. This is an unacceptable attack not only on the culture of these countries but also on our common values as human

beings. The EU has repeatedly condemned these crimes, and is taking action to protect heritage in war zones. Since 2014, we have been supporting cultural heritage protection in Syria. We have banned imports of cultural goods from Syria and Iraq. We work with international partners, especially UNESCO, whose expertise in this field is very valuable. Our strategy for cultural diplomacy also includes the protection of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s culture when it is in danger. I take this

opportunity to pay particular thanks to Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, and to express our full support to UNESCOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s #Unite4Heritage campaign In closing, can you tell us your views and hopes with regard to the proposed European Year of Cultural Heritage? Would it not be the right investment in reviving a positive attitude towards European values and ideals, which are at the basis of the entire European project? I am pleased that the European Commission will present a proposal to make 2018 the

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European Year of Cultural Heritage. I am convinced that it would be a good opportunity to boost awareness for and promote education about our cultural heritage. I will be happy to start the legislative procedure and to work with Member States, the European Parliament and our stakeholders in this field to make this happen. A European Year can reach out to society, engaging all citizens in a deeper reflection on the roots and meaning of our shared values. It should be as inclusive

as possible to encourage better ownership of cultural heritage by European citizens. In particular, we should reach out to young people and encourage them to become involved in running and preserving heritage sites. Finally, a European Year can be a stimulus to continue encouraging innovative governance models, where public and private actors, local communities and stakeholders participate in the maintenance and management of cultural heritage. We see this as a condition for making heritage part of broad-based long-term development plans in Europe.

With the Winter trainees With the Mayor of Wroclaw Rafal Dtkiewicz

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The Marqués de Santa Cruz, Vicepresident of Europa Nostra in his historic home in Madrid

The Marques de Santa Cruz, Vice-president of Europa Nostra with Araceli Pereda, President of Hispania Nostra (left) and Teresa Adell Pons of the Sénia ancient olive trees initiative during the local ceremony of the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards

The Future of Europe is Culture With a European Year of Cultural Heritage planned for 2018, the European Union seems to have finally come to terms with what should lie at the heart of the European project. Culture and cultural heritage not only embody the skills, passions and aspirations of past generations, they also have a vital role to play in a new Europe where economic and social development should go hand in hand with sustainability and inclusion.

Time to catch up with two of the most distinguished heritage heroes of Spain. The diplomat Álvaro Fernandez-Villaverde y Silva, Marqués de Santa Cruz and Duque de San Carlos has been President of Hispania Nostra, President of Patrimonio National and the Santander Foundation and is currently Vice-president of Europa Nostra. José María Ballester is a journalist and a former Director of Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Council of Europe. Currently he is Council member of Europa Nostra, Board member of Hispania Nostra and Director of the Rural Development Area of the Botín Foundation. Álvaro Fernández-Villaverde y Silva shared his views during an exclusive interview from his historic home in Madrid. José María Ballester has exclusively for this magazine written a personal appreciation on the relevance of Europa Nostra and Hispania Nostra.

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Álvaro Fernández-Villaverde y Silva; Europa Nostra has celebrated its 50th anniversary and Hispania Nostra celebrates its 40th birthday this year: Having been active in both organisations, can you tell us about the importance of Europa Nostra from a Spanish perspective? Well, to begin with, Hispania Nostra was a latecomer. We in Spain were away from Europe for a long time. When the new democratic Spain arrived, it was Europa Nostra who stimulated the local heritage community to start Hispania Nostra. Europa Nostra was there right from the beginning. Secondly, Spain has won quite a remarkable number of Europa Nostra Awards (from 2002 EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards ed.) and this success inspired others. It was the power of example. The fact of the Spanish Queen, who was and is the Honorable President of Hispania Nostra, having presented all the European awards at the local level also helped to give heritage restoration projects more prominence. I should also mention

my predecessor as President of Hispania Nostra, Carmen Ortueta de Salas. She was the motor behind the organisation for so many years. I remember going with her to a Europa Nostra meeting in Istanbul in 1991. It was there that I came to realise that people may speak a different language and come from a different background, they all share the same ideas on heritage. We can learn from one another’s perspective. We looked at how other people won awards and we learned from them how to do it and how to do it right. That international perspective is very important. As a diplomat I am an enemy of isolation. Today we are living in difficult times with nationalism and extremism from the left and the right. We all have a responsibility to change these dangerous attitudes. We have to be wise and to remember our history. I believe culture is an instrument, possibly the best instrument, to fight these egoistic visions within Europe. What do you think is the largest challenge facing Spain in the field of heritage?

The largest challenge is the economic situation in Spain. Sometimes economic development destroys cultural heritage, but the lack of economic development is also a threat. Heritage needs financial resources and at the moment we are dependent, possible too dependent, on money from the state and that money is no longer there. We need to increasingly involve private sources. The theme of this year’s magazine is ‘community’. Can you give us an example of the influence heritage restoration has had on a community? I could mention the city of Trujillo, which was abandoned and lifeless. Thanks to private initiatives the city has now bounced back. Tolédo is another example of a city that was far

HM King Felipe and HM Queen Letizia handing to the Marqués de Santa Cruz the Golden Medal of Fine Arts in 2015 The Palace de San Carlos in Trujillo

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Las Fraguas, family country estate in Cantabria Frescos in the Palacio Santa Cruz, historic family property in Ciudad Real

away from everything. It was preserved through poverty, but lost to the world. Now, however, with the investment of private foundations and individuals, it has made a remarkable comeback. The Alhambra is another example of a location which was supported by the state but was also strongly backed by the people of Granada. If we are talking about community, we have to mention the church and the effort they made to preserve cultural heritage. The Córdoba cathedral is a prime example of a heritage site which brought back life to the city centre. Nowadays more attention is given to Spain’s cultural legacy around the globe, especially in the Americas and the Philippines. Could you give us your opinion on the importance and responsibility of that legacy? One of the best ways to work with countries with Spanish connections is through cultural heritage. We do so in Ecuador, Mexico and Bolivia for instance. Companies like Telefonica are very interested in working on cultural heritage sites across the globe. I think that it is vital, also for the future of Spain.

Your family has decided to share the family’s rich archive with the world. Can you tell us about that? The access to our family archive was very restricted as we could only open it for one day a week. The Hospital de Tavera in Toledo already houses many of the papers of the Spanish nobility. It makes sense to put all these resources in one location to make access to them more easy. I just went to the Spanish Faculty of Law to watch a young man get a cum laude degree on his study of the 2nd Duke of San Carlos. He spent a year researching in the archives at my home. Now such research would be much, much easier. It is a gesture from my entire family. The papers of course stay in our possession.

I understand you were involved in convincing Maestro Plácido Domingo to become President of Europa Nostra. Up to that point Europa Nostra usually had a Royal president: HRH Prince Hendrik, the Prince Consort from Denmark and after that the Infanta Doña Pilar de Borbón, sister of the former king of Spain. I thought to myself, why not someone of the ‘Royal Family’ of culture? So the Board of Europa Nostra asked me who I was thinking of and I said: “Well, maybe someone like Plácido Domingo.” The Board said OK, you have our blessing. But I have to confess, I did not know Plácido Domingo at all. So I came home and explained the situation I had gotten myself into to my wife Queta and she said she also did not know Domingo, but she did know his best friend. We called him, set up a meeting with the Maestro in Milan and he was honoured to accept. I think it is a perfect example once again of the fact that people who work in culture agree on the main issues. We have a common purpose, a shared goal and I think that is vital for the future of Europe.

HRH The Prince Consort of Denmark, then President of Europa Nostra (second from the left) during the congress in Spain in 1997 with the Marques de Santa Cruz (on the right), José María Ballester (third from right), Baron Cardon de Lichtbuer, then Executive President of Europa Nostra (second from right) and a young HRH Felipe, Prince of Asturias, now HM King Felipe VI (far left)

Europa Nostra & Hispania Nostra A new role for civil society by José María Ballester Hispania Nostra, of which I was one of the founding members, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, at the same time that I commence the 50th year of my career which has been dedicated to cultural heritage, beginning in 1967 with the daily newspaper MADRID. Over forty years ago, I participated in the preliminary negotiations which led to the creation of the Spanish branch of Europa Nostra in 1976. Three years later, I entered the Council of Europe as Head of the Cultural Heritage Division, then as Head of the Cultural and Natural Heritage Service and finally as

Director of Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage. In this way I became responsible for the cooperation of the governments of our member states in matters concerning cultural heritage and represented the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in the managing body of Europa Nostra. My colleague, Dr Christopher Grayson, Secretary of the Subcommittee for Cultural Heritage of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe - headed for some time by Lord DuncanSandys, who was also President of Europa Nostra -, assured the representation of the Council of Europe’s parliamentary bodies to Europa Nostra and made sure that Europa Nostra’s views where widely disseminated among the Mps.

My professional life has therefore developed in close contact with both Europa Nostra and Hispania Nostra. When I returned to Spain to assume other responsibilities, always within the cultural heritage sphere, this close relationship was further strengthened. Europa Nostra invited me to remain on its Council in a personal capacity and I was then appointed as representative of Hispania Nostra. I later became a Jury Member for the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards for which I was the first Spanish President of the Jury for Category Conservation. I also became a member of the Jury for the Helena Vaz da Silva Award. And so, my entire life became closely intertwined with

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José María Ballester, Chairman of the jury of the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra awards (right side of the award) with representatives of the Valle Salado de Añana Foundation and Araceli Pereda, President of Hispania Nostra (left side of the award) during the local ceremony of the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards. The project won a Grand Prix.

the work of Europa Nostra and Hispania Nostra, well beyond my different professional responsibilities. This allowed me to closely follow the development of these two organisations and the impact of the activities undertaken by Europa Nostra and its many affiliated associations. We have shared an incredible amount of work over the last forty years! Missions were undertaken to visit the areas affected by war in the Balkans and in Kosovo where we had unforgettable discussions with Father Sava and other monks of the Mediaeval Serbian Orthodox Monastery of Dečani. We visited the houses, churches and chapels of Velika Hodža which had seemed doomed to deteriorate intolerably. The restoration of the Convent of Jésus in Setúbal,

having been listed in Europa Nostra’s 7 Most Endangered programme and the large scale campaign in Europe for the protection of Roșia Montană in Romania, which we soon hope to achieve, are perhaps some of the best examples of our shared commitment. The contribution of Hispania Nostra to the protection of Numancia, without doubt one of the most important places in Spanish history and antiquity, as well as the Cabanyal area, the endangered traditional neighbourhood located between Valencia’s Old City and the seafront, are some of the projects we have contributed to in Spain. Not to mention the prescient and highly effective Red List which was established by Hispania Nostra to raise awareness of endangered heritage sites in Spain.

These are just a few examples of our joint efforts but they are proof of the vitality that Europa Nostra and Hispania Nostra have embodied in their activities which now span nearly half a century. The scope of their work has increased and the impact of their actions has grown. Most importantly, they occupy new roles on both a national and European level. Both – working either independently or increasingly together – now have the privilege of being the spokesmen for civil society to public authorities. A phenomenon due, I believe, to three factors: their growing influence on policy making and their wider spread of representation; the fact of their having a “performance” which has become more and more professional over the

Numancia (photo by JaimeFP)

years, without ever losing their character of being the voice of citizens; and finally the incremental growth of their actions, which reflect the evolving concept of cultural heritage and its renewed social relevance. The attention that Europa Nostra and Hispania Nostra have given to cultural landscapes demonstrates their ability to successfully occupy these new spaces. The Cultural Heritage and Law Review, the periodical published by Hispania Nostra, has become a leading publication in the field and the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards are now well-known and sought after throughout Europe. These are just some examples of the new range of activities required of these associations in the field of Cultural Heritage and the role that civil society has to play at this time of profound social transformation. The Council of Europe’s Faro Framework Convention on the Value of Heritage for Society

Monastery of Dečani (photo by Sneška QuaedvliegMihailović)

sets out the path that we must follow to get there. Half a century was the amount of time necessary for Europa Nostra and Hispania Nostra to become full partners of public and non-governmental institutions. Today, the citizens’ voice is heard through a wellorganised civil society, at both national and international levels. This evolution has developed in the intervening period of time between two large European campaigns: the European Year of

Architectural Heritage in 1975, which was the origin of many new heritage policies developed at a European level and the European Year for Cultural Heritage, which the European Union will organise in 2018. This is of great significance as Europa Nostra and Hispania Nostra were developed as a result of this first campaign back in 1975, and they will realise the full breadth of their potential when they are invited to play a part in implementing the second campaign in 2018.

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Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins, President of Centro Nacional de Cultura and President of the Jury, presents the Helena Vaz da Silva European Award

The European Family of Music Maestro Jordi Savall receives the Helena Vaz da Silva European Award 2016

Jordi Savall

Renaissance and Baroque music is truly European cultural heritage, still able to find its way to our hearts, across centuries and cultures. The renowned Spanish musician and conductor Jordi Savall and his International Ancient

Music Centre Foundation have worked for years to promote the musical heritage of the Spanish and European Renaissance and Baroque across the continent. He is also personally involved in the inter-cultural dialogue between East and West, and

in connecting diverse cultures through the universal language of music. Savall links Europe’s musical heritage with Europe’s monuments, as he performs and records his music in exceptional historical settings, often on ancient musical instruments.

In a career spanning over 50 years, Jordi Savall has recorded more than 230 albums covering Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and Classical music repertoires. Together with his late wife, renowned mezzo-soprano Montserrat Figueras, he established the International Ancient Music Centre Foundation (CIMA), the instrumental ensemble Hespèrion XX (1974), the vocal ensemble La Capella Reial de Catalunya (1987) and the orchestra Le Concert des Nations, which performs Baroque music on original instruments (1989). He is the founder and artistic leader of the famous summer Festival de l’Abbaye de Fontfroide, whose 11th edition will take place this year from 15-19 July. In 2008, Jordi Savall was appointed European Union Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue and in 2009, along with Montserrat Figueras, he was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace for his outstanding musical commitment to intercultural dialogue.

The Helena Vaz da Silva European Award is named after Helena Vaz da Silva (19392002), a Portuguese journalist, writer, cultural activist and politician, in memory and recognition of her remarkable contribution to the promotion of cultural heritage and European ideals. It is presented annually to a European citizen whose career has been distinguished by activities that disseminate, defend and promote Europe’s cultural heritage, in particular through literary or musical works, news items, articles, chronicles, photographs, documentary features, films, and radio and/ or television programmes. The previous laureates of this award are the Italian writer Claudio Magris (2013) and the Turkish writer and Nobel Prize laureate Orhan Pamuk (2014). A Jury’s Special Mention in 2016 was given to the Danish radio and TV journalist Adrian Lloyd Hughes for his outstanding contribution to raising public awareness about European art and its influence on Danish cultural heritage. Over the last 30 years he has worked for the leading national public radio and TV stations and has become a prominent and influential figure taking on the important role of ‘cultural guide’ for the wider public in Denmark. The Spanish journalist Rafael Fraguas was also granted a Special Mention for years of dedication to promoting the values of cultural and natural heritage in the media, mainly through his writings in the leading Spanish daily newspaper El País. He has focused in particular on raising awareness on endangered heritage.

He also places his work in a wider historical, artistic, and philosophical context. During a ceremony in Lisbon on 12 October 2015, Jordi Savall received the Helena Vaz da Silva European Award, the award for raising public awareness on cultural heritage. It is a recognition of Savall’s unique and personal contribution to the multi-cultural story of Europe’s diverse musical heritage. The Award, established in 2013 by Centro Nacional de Cultura in cooperation with Europa Nostra and Clube Português de Imprensa, acknowledges exceptional contributions by individuals to the protection and promotion of cultural heritage and European values. The evening was hosted by the Gulbenkian Foundation, the main supporter of this prestigious European Award. As a committed European, Maestro Savall has made a significant contribution to promoting Europe as a cultural project. He strongly believes in music as an instrument of peace and dialogue. This is, in his opinion, not an intellectual exercise between cultures and religions but – as the FrenchLebanese writer Amin Maalouf wrote in the introduction to Savall’s musical project Mare Nostrum – a “dialogue between souls.” Maestro Plácido Domingo, President of Europa Nostra, noted during the ceremony: “We both believe in the power of music to enlighten and enchant the hearts and minds of people. Europe’s formidable musical

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heritage is the result of many centuries of human and artistic encounters. Today, more than ever, we need to promote peace and dialogue through celebrating our shared cultural inheritance.” “The profound inter-cultural dimension of his work, which highlights the similarities in the Jewish, Christian and Muslim cultures and traditions as well as the richness of their diversities, contributes to the better understanding and respect between those cultures and communities,” added Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins, President of the Jury.

Sneška QuaedvliegMihailović, Secretary General of Europa Nostra, congratulates the winner

Reacting to the news, Maestro Jordi Savall said: “I am very honoured and grateful to receive the Helena Vaz da Silva European Award. It is certainly an important recognition of our work. It is very rewarding to obtain this support, particularly in these difficult times for all of us who work so that music, beauty and culture can reach a growing number of people and countries, and be accessible to all levels of society, without exceptions.”

Jordi Savall at the ceremony hosted by the Gulbenkian Foundation

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A Series of Fortunate Coincidences Plaza Mayor in Trujillo (photo by Charly Morlock)

The Xavier de Salas Foundation

Carmen Ortueta Martínez

You could say the establishment and success of the Xavier de Salas Foundation was the result of a series of fortunate coincidences.

In the 1960s Xavier de Salas Bosch (1907-82) and his wife Carmen Ortueta Martínez (1912-2012) were the centre of Madrid’s cultural elite. They had both already made their mark on the world and proven their commitment to art and culture time and time again. She was one of the first women to study at university and earn a degree (in history). Xavier de Salas Bosch was Professor of Art History in Barcelona and Madrid and was director of the Prado (1970-78). He had organized and directed the Spanish Institute in London (what is today known as the Instituto Cervantes). A quiet life of retirement lay ahead.

The first fateful event was that they were invited by friends in the late 60s to come and visit them in the town of Trujillo, not necessarily the most exciting of prospects. If you had to pinpoint the middle of nowhere at that time, Trujillo in Extremadura would come close. It would however completely change their lives. “My parents did not come to heritage preservation until later in life. They had had their careers, made their mark and here was suddenly the chance for a second chapter. It is wonderful to have such a challenge, such an exciting new path to follow when you are already experienced and you have nothing to prove. You enjoy it so much more,” explains their son Jaime de Salas Ortueta, current President of the Xavier de Salas Foundation.

Trujillo could maybe best be described as a town where life had not changed much since medieval times. It was a city full of monuments, but they were all still in use, part of the daily life of the population. “It was very authentic and traditional. It was also very poor. There was no running water when my parents first went there,” he says with a smile. “It is not that long ago, but that is how it was.” It is needless to say that the De Salas family fell in love with the town. They immediately saw the potential. In 1969 they bought the Convent of San Francisco el Real de la Puerta de Coria, popularly known as the Convent of La Coria. The derelict building dated from the 15th century and was constructed within the

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ancient city walls and next to the city-gate that leads to Coria. The Association of Friends of Trujillo was founded in 1972 and started to make a real difference in the city and the community. In the meantime the Convent was renovated step by step and in 1981 it was donated to the newly established Xavier de Salas Foundation. The Foundation was created to contribute to the cultural and social development of Extremadura and Latin America and work in the areas of conservation of historical and artistic heritage, entrepreneurship, development cooperation, the protection of

the environment and landscape as well as anthropological and musical research. Quite a full plate for any organization! After the death of her husband in 1982, Carmen Ortueta became an even greater champion of heritage than before. Her small frame housed a formidable personality. Her perseverance to save Spanish monuments and sites was honored with several important awards. She was cofounder of Hispania Nostra and was Secretary-general as well as President of the organisation. She was also an essential and strong voice within Europa Nostra.

She stayed active until a very advanced age and work tirelessly for heritage as well as for â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;herâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Trujillo and the Foundation. Both she and her husband are buried on the cemetery beside the Convent. However, restoring a town and starting a Foundation is not enough to bring new life to a city. Trujillo needed young people,

Before restoration During restoration After restoration

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The Convent of La Coria Interior Convent of La Coria American students

new energy, new activities; it needed a future. The De Salas were luckily not the only ones who were enthralled by the authenticity of Trujillo, which brings us to the second coincidence that helped shaped the town as well as the Foundation. An American businessman had also discovered the town and was charmed by its fairytalelike allure. He bought a derelict house, had it beautifully restored and then completely lost interest. He decided to gift the house to his local university. “It was a blessing in disguise and a very important aspect of the work that the Foundation does today,”explains Jaime de Salas Ortueta. “He decided to give his house in Trujillo to the University of Charleston in South Carolina. They did not know what to do with it at first, but how can you say no to such a wonderful gift. So for many years, every semester, 50 American students are immersed in the daily life of

Trujillo. And how deeply they immerse is clear from the fact that several marriages have been the result of this language and culture programme,” he smiles. “The American’s house is still in use by the university when teachers come to stay. Our Convent is the host to many of the activities of the programme.” The students stay with local Spanish families. It is clear that the influx of all these young Americans make the town into a lively place. The Convent is also used for an array of other activities and houses other foundations, associations, companies and private groups involving academic, cultural and social activities. Trujillo and the Foundation however also profited from a third coincidence. Times have changed, for better and for worse. Jaime de Salas Ortueta: “Modernisation caused a lot of trouble for Spain’s historic landscapes. We are still very

concerned about the uncontrolled developments in the countryside around Trujillo. For instance they recently opened up a large solar plant, good for sustainability for sure, but terrible to look at. It is an extremely complex problem with many sides. Having said that, the modernisation also brought remote areas such as Extremadura and Trujillo closer to the rest of Spain. We are a lot closer to Madrid than when I was a young man. Soon there will be a high-speed train connection. The motorway has had an important impact on the city and the local community. The town used to be difficult to reach. You needed to plan your trips weeks in advance. Now I go there for lunch and come back. It used to be in the middle of nowhere, now it is almost a suburb of Madrid, it is almost a daily commute,” Jaime de Salas Ortueta says with contentment. “It means that the activities of the Foundation are now within easy reach of everybody.” The dream that was started by his parents more than 45 years ago, is more alive than ever. Their contributions to Spanish heritage and the local community in Trujillo have found a permanent and successful home in the Foundation that proudly bears their name.

CORO DE LA UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE MADRID The Choir of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) was created more than 30 years ago. It is made up my more than 100 mixed voices most of them linked to our University. Over the years, the Choir has interpreted most major choral works of religious and profane music of Europe and Latin America, as well as folk music from the world over. The Choir has been invited to perform at concert halls in UK, France, Italy, Portugal, Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg), Austria (Vienna and Salzburg), Turkey (Istanbul and Aspendos), with assorted programmes of Spanish and world music.

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The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari with Werner KrauĂ&#x;, Conrad Veidt and Lil Dagover (photo MurnauStiftung) Poster for The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (photo Murnau-Stiftung) Stills from the film (photo Murnau-Stiftung)

ebaR samohT nnamsletreB fo recffiO evitucexE feihC dna namriahC

Cinematic Heritage Silent movies exert a lasting fascination: They enable us to travel back in time to the early days of cinema. Actors and directors working without sound had to develop their own language and find new forms of artistic expression. Their works reflect this pioneering spirit and continue to draw people to movie theaters and silent film festivals to this day. No less fascinating is the cultural and historical significance of this almost century-old art form. Silent movies are the starting point of all movie genres. They founded the creative diversity of the movie industry that we know today. As a company that has thrived on the creative achievements of its filmmakers, authors, musicians and journalists for more than 180 years, Bertelsmann is aware of the high value of such inspiring and timeless works. For some time now, we have been committed to the preservation of important cultural assets at a European level - including its cinematic heritage. This is sorely needed especially in the case of silent movies, because existing copies are not only getting old, but will soon no longer be accessible as very few movie theaters still have analog projection technology. Foundations and movie archives face the mammoth task of elaborately restoring our threatened silent movie heritage and digitizing it for posterity; a task that they can hardly cope with alone. This is where Bertelsmann can and wants to help. As a company with its own tradition in the movie business and comprehensive digital expertise, we feel we are practically predestined to do this. Bertelsmann organizes silent movie festivals worldwide and sponsors major restoration projects, as when we digitally restored THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI together with the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation in 2014. This year we have largely financed the restoration of an early masterpiece by the director of METROPOLIS, Fritz Lang: DESTINY from 1921.These restorations set a visible benchmark for the cultural-political task ahead: Our movie heritage must be preserved and digitized so that present and future generations can continue to watch and enjoy it. Thomas Rabe Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bertelsmann

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The Hispania Nostra team with President Araceli Pereda in the middle

Spanish Heritage in Europe and Abroad

Hispania Nostra celebrates its 40th anniversary this year not only with the Europa Nostra Congress and the award giving ceremony for the European Heritage Awards in Madrid, but also with a special photo exhibition on all the Spanish winners of the last 35+ years. The exhibition ‘Recognising Spanish Heritage in Europe’ will open in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Letizia of Spain at the College of Architects of Madrid on 23 May. The project is supported by the Spanish Cultural Action of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (AECID) and the Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) and is designed to

be shown at various cultural centres both in Spain and abroad. The photo exhibition will take us on a fantastic journey, showing the best and most inspiring examples in conservation, research, dedicated service to heritage, and education, training and

awareness-raising. A total of 92 remarkable heritage projects were presented with Europa Nostra Awards between 1978 and 2001, while 56 won the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards between 2002 and 2015. Of these, seven projects received a Grand Prix.

All award-winning projects from Spain demonstrate that cultural heritage is a strategic resource for sustainable development at regional, national and European levels. This is precisely the core message of the Report ‘Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe’ (CHCFE) – recently developed by Europa Nostra together with 5 other European partners – which employs various award-wining Spanish projects as powerful illustrations that heritage generates countless economic, social, cultural and environmental benefits. The Spanish Edition of the CHCFE Executive Summary will be presented during a debate on this topic to be held at the Espacio Bertelsmann on the afternoon of 23 May, prior to the exhibition’s opening. Time to catch up with two of the main partners behind the project: Araceli Pereda, President of Hispania Nostra and Elvira Marco, Director General of the Acción Cultural Española (AC/E). Araceli Pereda: Were you surprised at the sheer number of projects that have won an award? And which project has a special place in your heart? No, really it is no surprise. Spain is the third country in number of Cultural and Natural features recognised by UNESCO as World Heritage. Our Heritage is quantitatively and qualitatively of great importance in the worldwide context. The fact that Europa Nostra has recognised this every year since the prizes were created, fills us with pride, but also we feel the responsibility to continue

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preserving our common heritage and spreading awareness of it. It is impossible to choose one project among the 191 that have received recognition from Europa Nostra. In my case it is particularly difficult, as my entire professional life has been devoted to the conservation, defence and growth of the cultural heritage from different spheres of responsibility, and I would not know how to establish priorities as to which I regard with the greatest passion. Hispania Nostra has to work in a difficult power play between autonomous regions, individual heritage owners and changing political objectives. What do you see as the biggest challenge facing Spanish heritage conservation? One of the biggest is coordination. Any social activity needs to avoid dispersion of efforts, but this is absolutely essential when available resources are insufficient. One of the greatest efforts of Hispania Nostra is to add, complement, make ourselves available for others. Since its creation, one of the identifying features of Hispania Nostra is the Annual Meeting of Spanish Heritage Associations, which nowadays it foments by using resources offered by new technologies, as anyone can see by entering our website. This year the special attention of the magazine is on ‘community’, the sort of bottoms-up approach I think that is very visible in your Red List projects: could you tell us more about that initiative?

A Spanish saying tells us, “It is better to prevent than to cure”. The Red List of the Heritage helps conservation by drawing attention to the need to intervene before the deterioration or decay become irreversible. The List includes elements of Spain’s Cultural Heritage that are at risk of disappearance, destruction or alteration in their essential values, in order to spread awareness and achieve their consolidation or restoration. The information on the items included in the List comes from our own sources or from entities associated with or linked to Hispania Nostra and, on occasion, from private individuals. It is drawn up under the supervision of a scientific committee consisting of experts in the field. At present, over 700 cultural items are included in the List. You are Europa Nostra’s representative in Spain: what do you expect of the Congress

Award Winner Cathedral In Tarazona (2015)

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Award Winner Abadia Retuerta Ledomaine (2013)

and which aspects should be put high on Europe’s agenda in your opinion? There are two: coordination and participation. I have already mentioned the need for connection between efforts and resources in Spain, and my belief is that in this field we should increase this connection also in the European sphere. We have chosen a subject for the Forum we shall hold jointly with Europa Nostra within the overall framework of the Congress, and which we hope to continue to refine and develop: “Social participation in Heritage conservation.” The protection of the Heritage should be a strategic, dynamic and interactive process in which participation by the citizens not only lends legitimacy to

the actions of institutions, but also constitutes the basic pillar for conservation itself. This is why it is necessary to encourage participation by social organisations, and this requires institutional support and adequate social and economic stimuli. Europa Nostra is a fundamental platform to unite efforts, experiences and resources which will permit us to advance more efficaciously in this shared undertaking to safeguard the Heritage. What, in your opinion, are Europa Nostra’s greatest accomplishments in the last 4 decades? What are you particularly proud of? In my opinion, one of the most outstanding aspects of Europa Nostra is its growth. It has succeeded in extending its

organisation in Europe, increasing the number of participating countries and integrating a large number of institutions and citizens. Another notable aspect is its capacity to adapt to social evolution and to forms of citizen participation in defence of Europe’s cultural heritage. I am particularly satisfied at the active manner in which Hispania Nostra and its members have always taken part in the institutional framework of Europa Nostra, and we hope not only to continue but also to increase this in the future, given the importance of Spain’s Cultural and Natural Heritage for European culture as a whole. It is also worth stressing the thorough manner in which over time members of Hispania Nostra have drawn up their reports on Spanish projects presented for the Awards.

Award winner 2010: The Church of Los Descalzos in Ecija (detail)

Elvira Marco, Director General of the Acción Cultural Española (AC/E).

Elvira Marco: What does Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) do to promote Spanish cultural heritage in Europe and the world and how important is the relationship with Hispania Nostra? AC/E is the official Spanish government agency for cultural action with the specific objectives of public support and promotion of culture, both in Spain and abroad. In that sense it aims also to promote and develop Spain´s rich and plural cultural, historical and artistic heritage world-wide. Hispania Nostra is a natural partner for AC/E in this endeavour as it has been for the last 40 years the main entity that has been associated with the protection and promotion of heritage in Spain, so we are fostering a very close relationship for the mutual interest of both our institutions’ objectives. Can you tell us something about how you approached the exhibition and what you wanted to highlight? We are very pleased to collaborate with Hispania

Nostra for the exhibition called “Recognising Spanish heritage in Europe” that marks the 40th anniversary of the Hispania Nostra association. The idea is to present to the public the most complete information possible on the different awards that Spain has received these years from Europa Nostra. The exhibition’s contents will be presented in a very attractive way that will allow visitors to navigate each part from a detailed or a more general perspective. The different locations that have been recognised by the awards will be organised by Autonomous Regions starting from a big map of Spain. There will be panels but also multimedia resources to

allow interaction of the visitors with the exhibition materials. Europa Nostra strongly believes that the future of Europe, economically but also socially, lies in the further development and enhancement of cultural heritage in widest sense of the word, from heritage related products/ industries to the restoration and rejuvenation of inner cities to the protection of cultural landscapes and the countryside. Is this something that Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) agrees with? What is your organisation’s long term vision of the importance of cultural heritage for Europe and especially Spain?

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Award Winner The Fountain Of The Lions in Granada (2013)

Award Winner Roman Bridge, Gate Of The Bridge, Calahorra Tower, And Surrounding Areas in CĂłrdoba (2014)

Yes, we are totally in agreement with this idea of heritage, defined in its most widely possible sense, as an extremely valuable asset for the future of Europe. The impact of historical and artistic heritage in Spain, as well as in Europe, is tremendous and we believe that it constitutes not just a reflexion of our very rich and plural past, but also a varied set of valuable resources that have to be enhanced and rejuvenated for all kinds of present and future social and economical developments. Spain, and in general Europe â&#x20AC;&#x201C; thanks in part also to the judicious policies in this area of the European Commission â&#x20AC;&#x201C;,

is promoting actions that are aimed at considering heritage a very important factor in many varied ways such as you touch upon: cultural tourism, urban restoration and landscaping, industries and professions related to this area. Your organisation is also very active globally, connected to Spanish and Spanish related cultures around the world. Do you think that for instance South America & The Philippines can help to look at culture and heritage from a wider non-European perspective?

We believe that the perspectives on culture and heritage of the nations with which Spain has been associated for historical reasons, such as those in Latin America or the Philippines, can be of great importance as they certainly are able to enrich our consideration and experience of how these resources can be turned into assets for social change and economic development. These experiences are especially significant at a moment when there is a worldwide necessity to reinterpret culture and heritage also as sectors that can provide growth, specialised employment and knowledge-driven entrepreneurship. Do you think countries like Spain, but also other countries who left their traces around the world, should be actively engaged in the upkeep and restoration of this kind of heritage sites around the world? Spain has traditionally recognised the importance of collaborating with other nations, in a greater manner with those with which it has had special historical and cultural relations, in actively preserving and

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promoting heritage sites of all kinds in these countries. In this sense the official Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) of Spain´s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and cooperation, has a very active and well established policy that has invested significant public funds in these programs, as well as helping train specialists on site to promote restoration, reutilisation and general enhancement of heritage assets. Specifically, the so-called “tradeschools” AECID programme (“escuelas-taller” in Spanish) has been extremely successful in this sense. Where does helping become meddling and how do you keep the balance? Spain has always structured these programs for heritage-site restoration as a collaborative endeavour in which its aim is to partner with the recipient countries’ authorities and to establish protocols and mechanisms that privilege working essentially through local channels with the responsible on-site institutions and entities, such as specialised agencies and municipalities. One of the important projects this year is the Cervantes commemoration. In the magazine we have an article on him. Can you tell us what you think Cervantes still has to say to the modern world? We are celebrating in AC/E this year the 400th anniversary of Cervantes’ death with numerous exhibitions and cultural projects, both in Spain and abroad in

recognition of his deep global impact as a creator and probably the precursor of an important art form that is still with us today: the modern novel. We believe in that sense that the best commemoration of his genius

today is to read his extensive work, in which one is surprised to discover how many relevant insights are to be found to our modern concerns.

Award Winner Number 2 Blast Furnace In Valencia (2012)

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The 7 Most Endangered 2016 The actions and input of local communities are nowhere more crucial than in Europa Nostraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The 7 Most Endangered Programme. It was set up together with the European Investment Bank Institute in 2013, with the Council of Europe Development Bank as associated partner*.

It is a new way to draw attention to threatened European monuments and sites. It helps communities by bringing public and private partners together and by generating creative ideas and sustainable solutions. In short, the aim is to use cultural heritage as a generator for positive change. Heritage sites are essential for Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy, society, culture and environment. So when tangible and intangible heritage is in danger, due to neglect or inadequate planning, a lack of resources or expertise, it is vital for local communities as well as the international community to get involved.

*The 7 Most Endangered programme is supported by the European Investment Bank Institute and the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

Nominations for The 7 Most Endangered programme 2016 were submitted by civil society or public bodies across Europe. 14 sites were shortlisted by an Advisory Panel of independent experts. The final list of 7 sites was selected by the Board of Europa Nostra, taking into account their outstanding heritage and cultural value as well as the grave danger that they are facing.

In Spain, Hispania Nostra has its own list of endangered heritage called the Red List (see also article on Hispania Nostra). In 2016 the organisation successfully nominated the severely threatened Convent

of Saint Anthony of Padua in CĂĄceres to be included in The 7 Most Endangered list. The 7 Most Endangered heritage sites in Europe for 2016 are:

The Convent of St. Anthony of Padua, Extremadura, Spain

The Franciscan Convent of St. Anthony of Padua was for centuries a religious and cultural landmark in western Spain. It features a Gothic church and a Renaissance cloister. Although it is classified as a Monument of Cultural Interest, the Convent is in an advanced state of disrepair. The site was nominated by Hispania Nostra

The Archaeological Site of Ererouyk and the village of Ani Pemza, Armenia.

Ererouyk was once one of the most important centres of worship on the border between Turkey and Armenia. The 6th century basilica is highly endangered and the surrounding archaeological area is at risk of being lost forever.

The Helsinki-Malmi Airport, Finland

Built in the mid-1930s in the functionalist architectural style, the Helsinki-Malmi Airport is one of the best-preserved and still active pre-World War II international airports in the world. The terminal and hangar are in good shape, but the airport is seriously threatened by new residential developments.

The site was nominated by The Centre of Studies and Documentation of Armenian Culture in Italy (CSDCA)

The site was nominated by Europa Nostra Finland and The Friends of Malmi Airport (FoMA)

The Patarei Sea Fortress in Tallinn, Estonia

The impressive Patarei Sea Fortress was built in 1840. Between 1920 and 2005, it was used to detain political prisoners. Today, this important lieu de mĂŠmoire is threatened by rapid deterioration due to the harsh climate and the lack of maintenance.

The Colbert Swing Bridge in Dieppe, Normandy, France The Colbert Bridge is the last large swing bridge still operating in Europe with its original hydraulic mechanism. It is crossed by 12,000 vehicles and 1,800 pedestrians every day. But now the owner has decided to replace the 1889 bridge with a new and much more expensive structure.

The site was nominated by The Estonian Heritage Society

The site was nominated by Fondation du Patrimoine

The Colbert Swing Bridge

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The Kampos of Chios, island of Chios, Greece The Kampos of Chios is a unique mixture of Byzantine, Genoese and local architectural styles and influences. The more than 200 estates, containing orchards, mansions and churches, are under permanent threat due to lack of maintenance, unsuitable uses and invasive urban planning.

Venice Lagoon

The site was nominated by Elliniki Etairia - Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage and The Society of Friends of the Kampos of Chios

The Ancient city of Hasankeyf and its surroundings, Turkey

Venice protest

The 12,000-year-old settlement of Hasankeyf in south-eastern Turkey is a living museum of epic proportions, with monuments from different civilisations. In spite of that, 80% of the city and its surroundings will be flooded if the IlÄąsu hydroelectric dam project is implemented as planned. The site was nominated by The Cultural Awareness Foundation

The Board of Europa Nostra also decided - as was strongly suggested by the Advisory Panel - to select, in addition to the 7 Most Endangered, one site, which is so important and central to Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heritage that it needed to be in a category of its own.

Venice Lagoon, Italy Covering 550 square kilometres, the Venice Lagoon is one of the most important transitional ecosystems in the Mediterranean. Despite being protected by a range of national and international regulations, the Lagoon faces great threats - such as increased flow of largescale ships, the dredging of ever deeper channels, erosion of the seabed, pollution, and industrial fishing

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- which are jeopardizing its very existence and, consequently, putting the city of Venice at higher risk. The site was nominated by Italia Nostra “Fifty years after the huge floods which provoked a solidarity movement across the entire world, international public opinion needs once again to raise its voice and to launch the following appeal to the European, Italian and Venetian governments, and also to political and business leaders: Please do not sacrifice the important but fragile living environment of the Venice Lagoon! Instead, let us join forces to ensure a long life and preserve the beauty of the Lagoon and of its Venus – Venezia!” Plácido Domingo, President of Europa Nostra, said when the inclusion of the Venice Lagoon in the list was announced during The 7 Most

Endangered press conference in the UNESCO World Heritage of Venice on 16 March 2016. Europa Nostra, together with the European Investment Bank Institute and other associated partners will visit the 7 sites and Venice Lagoon and meet with local and national stakeholders in the coming months. The heritage and financial experts will help formulate feasible action plans for the selected sites by the end of the year. In many cases the situation of the heritage sites nominated in previous years have been seriously improved. Please keep updated on 7mostendangered. eu Help us to raise awareness and take action. Become a member or donate to help the local communities in saving these magnificent places, for the benefit of all of us.

In 2013, the historic Cabanyal neighbourhood in Valencia was shortlisted as one of the 14 most endangered heritage sites in Europe by Europa Nostra and the European Investment Bank Institute, in the framework of The 7 Most Endangered programme. In 2012 the area was already put on the Red List by Hispania Nostra, Europa Nostra’s country representation in Spain. The historic neighbourhood was under threat of a large scale urban development plan which would destroy most of the original district. In the same year the Living Cabanyal Archive won the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards for their community engagement programme. The grassroots project created awareness in the community about the value of the historical, social and artistic heritage of ‘their’ Cabanyal. After years of uncertainty, political delay techniques and community activism, the Supreme Court of Spain has now ruled in favour of the preservation of the historic neighbourhood of El Cabanyal. This ruling confirms previous decisions taken by other Spanish Courts and is fully in line with the continuing efforts undertaken by the local community.

Living Cabanyal Archive

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Become a Member of Europa Nostra Make Cultural Heritage a European Priority

EUROPA NOSTRA The Voice of Cultural Heritage in Europe

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CALL FOR ENTRIES 2017

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EUROPA NOSTRA INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT Lange Voorhout 35

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This publication is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union

ISSN: 1871-417X EUROPEAN CULTURAL HERITAGE REVIEW SUMMER 2016

EUROPA NOSTRA welcomes and supports the

We are the Voice of Cultural Heritage in Europe

SPAIN SPECIAL