Renovation of the shrine of Sant Pau

Location

Sant Pol de Mar

Surface area

315 m²

Year

2019

Photography

Laia Tió

Rehabilitating the shrine of Sant Pau is an exciting commission for our firm: rehabilitating a historic building more than 1,000 years old and one of the icons of the historical heritage of the Maresme region was a motivating challenge. The history and origins of Sant Pol centre on Sant Pau, from a defensive tower in medieval times, then a Benedictine monastery, and the shrine of today. And through the centuries we have been identifying these different phases with the traces that we have found during the rehabilitation works, which has made us view with even more respect the iconic building of Sant Pol.

The tranquillity that is breathed from the roof of the hermitage with the views of the sea makes a deep impression: knowing that we are stepping on the same stones that the monks walked on hundreds of years ago makes the rehabilitation a work characterised by respect and dedication.

When construction began on the railway tunnel in 1854, a longitudinal crack was made that crossed Sant Pau from end to end, and although this crack has been repaired over time, in recent years it had once again become very open. The rehabilitation project that we carried out consisted, on the one hand, of filling in the large crack that began in the eastern apse, followed the central nave and ended at the western façade, and renovating the roof of the shrine, that was in an advanced state of deterioration. In this way, the intervention has meant recovering the image of a Sant Pau with the two clean white facades that are visible from almost anywhere in Sant Pol.

The rehabilitation of the tower roof consisted of completely replacing it with a new roof made of wooden beams, tin plate, tile and Arabic tiles, reproducing what had been there until now. The renovation of the facades was carried out by filling in the large crack using a range of state-of-the-art techniques and materials depending on the type of wall in question. As finishing materials, lime mortar was applied as a coating for the walls that had been damaged, restoring the final texture that the shrine has always had.