The government delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco, announced this morning that the works of the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Ourense are in the “final stretch of a long road” and advanced that will allow to open a new space to the citizens and the recovery of the old Pazo Episcopal. Pedro Blanco added 11.1 million euros to the investment of the Ministry of Culture and Sport to complete the new headquarters, which will be integrated into the San Francisco Cultural Complex, along with the State Library and the Provincial Archive: “one of the most modern cultural complexes in Galicia and Spain”, explained the delegate, and the “most important action of the Ministry of Culture and Sport in Galicia”.
Pedro Blanco approached the city of Ourense this morning to supervise the works of reform of the space that are being carried out through the Plan of recovery and rehabilitation of museums of the Ministry of Culture and Sport.
The delegate toured the work, which he described as “very thorough, almost artisanal”, since it must “integrate many historical and archaeological elements and make them visible to the citizens”. He recalled that the Ministry had to modify the initial project after the appearance of archaeological remains during the first phase of realization of the work. And he said that the new project, which is what is being implemented, recovers and integrates cultural and historical elements to configure a museum space of “great relevance” that will allow citizens to know its “history in a building adapted to the new times”. In this process, he recalled the role of the Minister of Culture, Miquel Iceta, who, on his visit to the city last September, personally committed himself to the completion of the work “complying with the times, as it is being carried out”.
During the visit, the Government delegate in Galicia was accompanied by the Government subdelegate in Ourense, Emilio González; the director of the provincial archaeological museum, Xulio Rodríguez; the territorial delegate of the Xunta in Ourense, Gabriel Alén and the deputy mayor of the City of Ourense, Armando Ojea.
San Francisco Cultural Complex
The delegate recalled that the “Government understands culture as a State policy” and this action is “a good example of that”, while it will mean the recovery of the “Athens of Galicia” through its three most important historical-cultural elements: the Archive, the Library and, now, the Museum.
The three buildings will make up the San Francisco Cultural Complex that the Government makes a reality with more than 35 million euros of investment, and that will allow the city “to have a cultural offer equal to the prominence that Ourense has in Galician culture,” said Pedro Blanco.