townhallglory

Discovering Cartagena

More Articles By Phillip Bruce www.raxomnium.com

Town Hall Glory Restored At Last

Visitors are now enjoying the splendid sight of Cartagena’s old town hall in all its restored glory.

The original town hall, known as the Palacio Consistorial, is a wonderful extravagance of modernism and ornate decoration that sits on a triangular site near to the waterfront at the start of the Calle Mayor.

For many years the building was shuttered and surrounded by hoardings as seemingly endless restoration work went on. Now everything is finished and the magnificent building is again a jewel in Cartagena’s crown.

The building was opened in 1907 and it was an extravagant demonstration of Cartagena’s wealth and confidence, largely drawn from the riches of the mines and industry at that time. No expense was spared, with marble and carvings decorating the outside and fantastic ornamentation inside.

The opening saw Alfonso XIII of Spain and his wife, Victoria Eugenia, on the balcony, together with Edward VII of Great Britain. The Spanish queen was a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria and she was born at Balmoral. Both had arrived in harbour on their respective Royal yachts with impressive naval escorts and The Treaty of Cartagena was signed, which was something to do with Gibraltar.

Work started on the building in 1900 and the architect was Tomás Rico. The site was difficult, as it is right on the waterfront so foundation problems had to be solved. The seven years’ work saw an army of craftsmen working on the structure and on the decoration. The recent restoration work took about the same amount of time.

Visitors can go inside the old town hall without charge in groups, which are admitted every 15 minutes, although, no doubt, not during siesta hours. The route features an exhibition, an audiovisual show, a room describing the original project, an historic photographs room, the entrance hall, the mayor’s office, the councillors’ office, the corporation hall, the original office, the reception hall and even the magnificent zinc cupola which crowns the building.

To avoid confusion if you are asking for directions, it should be mentioned that there is also new town hall which is a dreadful eyesore situated inconveniently in a very rundown area of town. The sooner this demolished the better. The town council is thinking about restoring another distinguished historic building in the city centre and moving there in the future.

By Phillip Bruce

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