The restoration of the Oratory of the Partal Palace in the Alhambra of Granada, Grand Prix Europa Nostra 2019

Wulff, Federico ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7469-1954 2021. The restoration of the Oratory of the Partal Palace in the Alhambra of Granada, Grand Prix Europa Nostra 2019. Built Heritage 5 , 7. 10.1186/s43238-021-00026-w

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Abstract

This research focuses on the last 2013-2017 restoration of the Oratory of the Partal palace, a 14thC. palatine mosque in the Alham¬bra, one of the most important UNESCO worldwide-listed heritage sites of Spain. This restoration was awarded with the Europa Nostra Grand Prix 2019, the most prestigious European her¬itage award, promoted by the European Commission. It has revealed original inscriptions, decorative ele¬ments and constructive solutions from the Nasrid period unknown to date. Their interpretation allowed a deeper understanding of Nasrid carpentry techniques as distinctive from their Christian-mudéjar counterparts. The dendrochronology tests of the original decorated timber framework covering the praying space consistently dated its timber elements as been cut during the Autumn/Winter of 1332-1333. This would prove that the Oratory had been conceived and its construction initiated on an earlier date to its widely-accepted attribution to Yusuf I (1333-1355), most probably during the rule of the earlier sultan Ismai’l I (1314-1325), who had already made several interventions in the Partal palace. The improved legibility of the last two 1846 and 1930 historical restorations has enabled the interpretation of the Oratory of the Partal as a compendium of the Spanish heritage preservation approaches of the last 180 years.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Architecture
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > NA Architecture
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Alhambra, Nasrid, Carpentry, Partal, timber framework, mudéjar
Publisher:	Springer Nature
ISSN:	2662-6802
Related URLs:	Publisher
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	11 January 2021
Date of Acceptance:	30 March 2021
Last Modified:	13 May 2023 07:16
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/137398

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