Heritage conservation

Time everlasting Milena Motalikova Branch 9642

Fundación Caja Madrid has devoted over €158 million to this programme since its start-up in 1991. No other private non-profit institution has put more resources into preserving Spain’s historical heritage.

Aside from its longstanding collaboration with the Madrid City Council and Regional Government, in 2008 the Programme for the Conservation of Spain’s Historical Heritage approved two new projects: restoration of the "Casa Amatller" house in Barcelona, a landmark of Catalan modernism, and of the Santa Isabel Royal Convent in Granada.

The conservation programme has been steadily expanded to include heritage research and appreciation activities that form a natural complement to the restoration works. When the works are completed, for example, the Fundación Caja Madrid adds a new publication to its “Restored Monuments” series, to provide a technical account of the work undertaken and attract visitor interest, and produces video documentaries and organises on-site exhibitions and concerts.

One of the star projects in 2008 was the restoration of the Church of San Pablo in Valladolid, which was approached as a multi-faceted cultural project, with a public relations campaign, on-site interpretation centre and guided visits that attracted over 40,000 people to see firsthand the scientific and technical value of the project.

The restoration of the historical windmills in Campo de Criptana was completed in 2008   as part of the Special Landscape Protection Plan, the heart of an integrated project to safeguard, better manage and allow the public to enjoy and appreciate the monuments and landscape of the Sierra de Molinos and its surroundings.

These ambitious initiatives were complemented in 2008 by Fundación Caja Madrid's continued activities to study popular perception of historical and artistic heritage and its preservation, and analyse the related costs and investments as indicators of the general social utility of such heritage sites.