The Minister of Culture and Sports, Patricia del Pozo, and the Mayor of Granada, Marifrán Carazo, have supervised the reconstruction and rehabilitation works of the historic Carmen del Negro plot. The visit took place after the recent resumption of the works, which had been halted since 2007, thanks to an investment of 2.8 million euros included in the Alhambra Plan by the Andalusian Government. Specifically, these works will allow the completion of the building that will house the Municipal Archive.
The Minister of Culture and Sports has emphasized that this investment from the Alhambra Plan in Carmen del Negro, carried out within the framework of the agreement signed with the Granada City Council, will represent «a new milestone in this heritage recovery plan,» as it will allow «the completion of a project that, despite having great architectural and landscape value, as well as an undeniable public service vocation, had been forgotten and abandoned for more than a decade and a half.»
Del Pozo has highlighted the importance of the intervention in this plot, «one of the most emblematic in Granada,» while recalling that over these years of neglect, little maintenance work has been carried out, resulting in the municipal archive building accumulating damages and pathologies that needed to be addressed first. She also assured that the building, whose completion is scheduled for the last quarter of this year, «will have high construction and environmental performance.»
On the other hand, the Mayor of Granada stated that these works «unblock a project that has been stalled for 16 years and will lead to the culmination of the first phase of the project, carried out by architects Antonio Luis García-Fresneda and Juan Manuel Zamora Malagón, based on the design by Luis Feduchi Canosa, the winner of the public architecture competition organized by the Granada City Council in 2000.»
Marifrán Carazo highlighted the «excellent results for the city from the Alhambra Plan, promoted by the Andalusian Government in Granada for the conservation and recovery of historical and cultural heritage,» while also stating that «we will continue working so that, as soon as possible, we can put forward an agreement to complete the comprehensive rehabilitation of Carmen del Negro.»
«In the meantime, once this space is freed up in the municipal archive at the Palace of the Córdoba and transferred to the new building of Carmen del Negro, the city will have one more cultural space, and that is why we have offered it to the Ajsaris house, to host the private collection once it is bequeathed to the City Council and the family of the owner, Juan Manuel Segura, has shown interest in the proposal, which they will evaluate,» she revealed.
Intervention and Plot
The tender for the works at Carmen del Negro, approved by the Local Government Board on May 10, 2024, was awarded to the company Albaida Infraestructuras-Construcción y Servicios Especiales SERIESA. The intervention includes emptying, foundation work, load-bearing structure, and the construction of the roof slabs, affected by moisture from filtration in the load-bearing walls and oxidation of the metal structures, as well as by the collapse of the slab due to corrosion in the installation area.
The new building, which will adhere to the original spirit and configuration, will have three levels and a gallery in the basement that will facilitate the integration of new facilities.
The plot occupied by the Carmen del Negro is located on Cuesta del Chapiz street, at numbers 12 to 14. Almost rectangular in shape, it has an area of 4,492 square meters and is divided into two areas: at the front is the Carmen, facing Cuesta del Chapiz, consisting of a mid-20th-century house that reproduces a ‘neo-Moorish’ decoration system, while the rest of the plot consists of an old orchard where the works of the Municipal Historical Archive began, highlighting the presence of the Axares irrigation channel, of Zirid origin, which takes water from the Darro River to carry it through San Juan de los Reyes street into the city.
Associated with this irrigation channel was the so-called ‘molino del negro’, which gave its name to the Carmen, currently disappeared, and was located near the archive building, on the upper terrace, now occupied by the Ave María schools. It is estimated that this mill existed until the 17th century.
The orchard of Carmen del Negro has remained with hardly any changes since the implementation in the 13th century of large orchards in the area with aristocratic residences, such as ‘Dār al-Baida’, of which the current plot presumably formed part as a cultivation terrace.
The 20th-century building, with a neo-Moorish decoration system, borders the Córdova Palace and the Ave María Schools. Reformed on multiple occasions, it is planned to become a future museum space.
Currently, the Municipal Historical Archive is located in the Córdova Palace, which, despite having a consultation room, does not have the most suitable features to store, preserve, and exhibit the historical documentary funds of the city of Granada.
Alhambra Plan
Approved by the Andalusian Government at the initiative of the Ministry of Culture in December 2020, its objective is to reverse the recovery of heritage located in the surroundings of the monumental complex, using part of the surplus from the treasury of the Nasrid monument. Thus, in the words of Minister Patricia del Pozo, it fulfills «one of the great demands of Granada.»
