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The Capitulary Room in Toledo Cathedral, after the restoration project (lighting, air conditioning and restoration).
- Toledo Cathedral’s Capitulary Room now boasts a new, more efficient art lighting system, which is environmentally friendly and helps save energy.
- This marks the 14th such lighting project installed by Fundación Endesa in Castilla La Mancha, as part of its ongoing efforts to develop, promote and encourage projects to safeguard and restore our historical and artistic heritage.
Today, Fundación Endesa proudly unveiled the lighting installation in the Capitulary Room in Toledo Cathedral. This is part of a broader project, which includes the restoration of murals by Juan de Borgoña and other structural pieces. The project has been ongoing for around a year.
The event took place at the ‘Transparente’ illuminated altarpiece in the Cathedral, attended by the Chairman of Endesa and President of Fundación Endesa, Mr Borja Prado; the Archbishop of Toledo, Mr Braulio Rodriguez Plaza; and the chairman of the Castilla la Mancha Regional Council, Mr Emiliano García-Page.
The project entailed the replacement of the old lighting with a system of projectors suspended on an electrified rail, with LED tape lighting on the upper side of the rail, to illuminate the Artesonado ceiling. By changing to LED altar lamps, in addition to enhancing the beauty of the Capitulary Room, an energy saving of over 75% was achieved, in comparison to the amount of electricity previously consumed by the setup in the Room. LED bulbs are low-energy, and emit no infrared or ultraviolet light, making them an ideal solution for lighting works of art. In addition, Endesa installed highly efficient air conditioning, not just to offer a comfortable temperature for visitors, but also to maintain stable temperature and humidity in the room, to help conserve the artworks.
In addition, in 2014, amidst the commemorations of the 400th anniversary of El Greco’s death, Fundación Endesa contributed to the restoration and illumination project in the Cathedral Museum and the old religious school Nuestra Señora de los Infantes.
The agreement between Fundación Endesa and the Canons of Toledo Cathedral was signed in 2017, coinciding with the celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the death of Cardinal Cisneros (1517), who had the gorgeous Capitulary Room built. It was also the Cardinal who pursued and achieved the dream of making Toledo Cathedral one of the most important in Christendom.
Through this project, Fundación Endesa is, once again, demonstrating its commitment to culture, and its mission to illuminate and restore Spain’s artistic and architectural heritage; the Foundation viewed this restoration as crucial in order to rescue one of the works of art most emblematic of the Renaissance in Spain.
Additionally, also in the province of Toledo, Fundación Endesa has rigged illumination systems for the church of Calzada de Oropesa, the city walls of Toledo, the San Clemente Monastery, the Real Fundación, the Fundación El Greco and the parish church of San Benito de Yepes. In other provinces in Castilla La Mancha, we have worked on the Cathedral of Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Sigüenza and, most recently, the Colegiata de Pastrana in Guadalajara.
About Fundación Endesa
Fundación Endesa, under the leadership of Borja Prado, has demonstrated a clear commitment to social development through its educational projects, vocational training, environmental projects and cultural initiatives.
It boosts educational projects by means of initiatives aimed at transforming and innovating education at all levels and fostering academic excellence in universities through scholarships, grants and academic chairs.
It supports employment training projects, focusing on the promotion of talent, aimed at people at risk of social exclusion, low-income young entrepreneurs and professionals over the age of 50.
It promotes environmental initiatives related to education in ecological culture and promotion of energy efficiency. Moreover, environmental impact reduction projects in industrial areas are another commitment of Fundación Endesa.
Last but by no means least, the Foundation continues to work on shining light on historical-artistic heritage properties and promoting, restoring and preserving art and culture.