The City Council is preparing guided tours of the site so that the public can see the progress of the excavation and development work.
The mayoress of Cartagena, Noelia Arroyo, accompanied by the deputy mayoress and head of Heritage, Ana Belén Castejón, visited the works being carried out in the Roman Amphitheatre and Bullring, which has just completed the second of the three phases into which the excavation and recovery project is divided.
In fact, according to the mayoress, the latest phase has involved work inside the double ring of the bullring with a triple objective: stabilising the structure, building a flight of stairs to access a new viewing point over the monument, and excavating the area.
Arroyo announced that they are preparing a few days of visits to the excavation that will take place in the coming weeks, taking advantage of the window between the end of the work and the beginning of the third phase.
Precisely, said the mayoress, “the work of the third phase will last one year and will yield spectacular results because it will allow visitors to access the lower part of the monument from the autopsy pavilion, cross a vaulted corridor and go out into the arena to contemplate the excavated steps”.
This new phase is valued at 1 million euros, co-financed by the City Council and the 1.5% Cultural Fund of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda.
The work to restore the Amphitheatre and the Bullring is an extraordinary experience in terms of heritage and administration. “It is so because of the coexistence of two historic buildings and the cooperation between administrations,” said Arroyo.
“Today we can see how the City Council of Cartagena is able to reach an agreement between all the administrations, led by the Department of Heritage and its great professionals who are carrying out the consolidation of the Roman Amphitheatre in phases and in a very rigorous manner,” said the Deputy Mayor of Cartagena, Ana Belén Castejón.
The City Council of Cartagena bought the square to recover the amphitheatre and has been leading all the excavation processes, with the help of the Autonomous Community for the implementation of the Master Plan and the first phase (170,000 euros), and maintains the collaboration of the central government through the 1.5% cultural.
