Project to recover the "forgotten city walls" of Vitoria-Gasteiz

European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards 2010 (Diploma)

The city of Vitoria-Gasteiz unknowingly held within it the remains of an ancient wall, over 300 metres in length and up to 10 metres in height: the 11th century Pre-foundational City Wall, which lay hidden in back yards and degraded plots.
The restoration features coherent language and imagery throughout, educating citizens by facilitating the recovery of their collective memory regarding these “forgotten architectures”, while favouring the social integration of the neighbourhood through their identification with the cultural heritage they possess (and which they were not aware of before).
This task has been undertaken resolutely by regional institutions (the Deparment of Culture of the Basque Government) and local ones (the Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz and the Agency for the Integral Revitalization of the Historic Centre), who have jointly financed approximately 5-and-a-half million €, which is estimated to be the final cost of the project.

Owner
ARICH, S. A.
Manager
Gonzalo Arroita

Project leader
Dr. Agustín Azkarate (Coordinator)
Ander de la Fuente (Architect)

Organisation
GPAC (University of the Basque Country), Consolider 2010

Web: arqueologiadelaarquitectura.com
agustin.azcarate@ehu.es