After a full year standing idle, the renovation works have restarted at La Herradura Castle. The work includes a dig by archaeologists from the School of Arabic Studies in Granada.
The deadline for completion of the work, according to technicians, is estimated to be around ‘four to five months’, so the project could even be completed before the summer. The technicians even ventured that in four months the building and renovation work should be complete and at around that time the museum pieces should start to enter the building.
On completion, the description given to the interior is a ‘Museum of the Sea’ recording the relationship between La Herradura and it’s salty neighbour, including a display on the loss of the Armada and 5,000 souls off Marina de Este in 1562.
There is also the discovery and restoration of two cannon, believed to be from the second half of the eighteenth century, which were found in a pit where they may well have been thrown after exploding due to their original poor quality of construction. Once completed, these 24-pound examples will also be on display.
The castle is part of a group of fortifications that were erected originally during the reign of Charles III, to protect the coast against piracy, and of course those pesky Brits! It would have been the largest of the fortifications as; unlike the others it would have had a barracks housing infantry and cavalry, and of course would have included some substantial artillery pieces.
The work is being carried out by Construcciones y Promociones Javier Davila, S.L., with a budget of €1,090,302.01 with a time limit of eight months.