Poblet Monastery shows its restored 14th century cloister

Barcelona (ACN). – One of Catalonia’s most important historical and religious sites, Poblet Monastery has had its cloister restored. The cloister dates from the 14th century and although the Monastery was closed down in the 19th century, due to Spanish Government’s law, in the 1940s monastic life was restored and it remains to this day an active monastery. The project was commissioned due to problems with humidity in the cloister and lasted seven months, including work in other parts of the monastery that were in need of renovation. The work cost 800,000 euros and was financed by the Social Project Foundation of the Catalan savings bank ‘La Caixa’. The monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, receives about 130,000 visitors annually. With the renovation work finished, the aim is to increase the number of annual visitors to 200,000.

The Catalan Minister of Culture, Ferran Mascarell and the General Delegate of ‘La Caixa’ in Tarragona, Empar Martínez, unveiled the renovated cloister on Saturday. The cloister, Gothic in style, dates from 1331. It was built by order of King James II to replace the older one which is Romanesque in style.

The cloister presented various problems, which affected the building materials. The main problem was the continual presence of humidity due to the roof which had an inadequate drainage system. In addition, many of the materials were old and had also undergone previous restoration with poor quality materials.