The City Council will invest 782,000 euros from the Next Generation funds, in some works that will serve to bring to light the central garden and two rooms with mural paintings, among other archaeological remains
The Board of Trustees of the Foundation of the Roman Theater of Cartagena awarded this Wednesday the recovery works of the western portico of the monument to the company Almer Cantería y Restauración SL, to start work in November. This was explained by the mayor, Noelia Arroyo, after the meeting held by the members of the Foundation of the Roman Theater of Cartagena.
These works constitute the first of the three phases of the project in this area, located at the back of the scenic building. It is a large public space with a quadrangular floor plan, with a double porticoed gallery that surrounds a central landscaped space. This first part will last nine months and the expenses will be covered by a European contribution from the Next Generation funds of 782,000 euros.
“What we hope is that once the work of the first phase begins, the activity will not cease until the totality of the project is completed,” said Arroyo. And he added: “We will continue rowing in the direction of obtaining external or own funds to continue the phases.” The director of the Roman Theater Museum, Elena Ruiz Valderas, indicated that with this intervention “we will not only be able to value the double gallery of the western portico, but also two rooms with mural paintings that were left unexcavated.”
Remains six meters deep
Ruiz Valderas placed special emphasis on the complexity of the work, since “the remains are buried six meters away.” For the first time, Valderas highlighted, “it will be possible to perform in the central garden, where there are fountains, flower beds and plant remains.”
The intervention, in addition to recovering part of the portico, is also a boost to job creation, since 75% of the item is destined for personnel expenses due to the significant number of trades involved. Among them are archaeologists, restorers, stonemasons, quantity surveyors, architects, laborers, masons, photographers or topographers.
The project includes the restoration in a panel with mural painting, with dimensions of five by two meters, and its placement in the Museum. In this way, the more than 2,000 fragments extracted in 2006 can be joined with those that would be recovered in the new action. Among these works, Ruiz Valderas reported that “there is a representation of male characters, who could be Cayo and Lucio, grandsons of Emperor Augustus, to whom the Theater is dedicated.”
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