The Diocese of Córdoba (Spain) thanked the Firefighters and all who intervened to contain the fire that occurred on the night of August 8 in the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, World Heritage Site.
In the Mass that presided on August 15 on the occasion of the Assumption of the Virgin, Mons. Jesús Fernández González, Bishop of Córdoba, thanked the Firefighters, the municipal services and the Cathedral Cabildo for their work before the incident that was quickly controlled.
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Prelate, indicates the Diocese of Córdobahe thanked “God, the Virgin and San Rafael”; to the Deán President of the Cabildo Cathedral, P. Joaquín Alberto Nieva, “who from the beginning was put in charge of the situation”, as well as the “security and maintenance services of the cathedral whose rhythm in the recovery works causes admiration.”
The bishop also thanked the Vatican Secretariat of State for his interest in what happened after knowing the situation.
A day after the fire, on August 9, Fr. Nieva thanked for his part “the behavior and professionalism shown by firefighters, civil protection, local police, national and other bodies involved, in addition to the institution’s own staff, who have managed to minimize damage and, above all, not have to regret personal damage,”
The Diocese of Córdoba He said that there have been a total of 50 square meters affected, of the 23,000 that the cathedral mosque has, with two chapels and some minor damages in ship 2.
On August 12, Juan Carlos Molina Gaitán, president of Icomos España, an organization dedicated to the conservation of cultural heritage and that advises UNESCO in this task, visited chapels 33 and 34 of the mosque-catedralbeing received by Fr. Nieva and other responsible.
“After reviewing the actions and protocols, I can affirm that I would not talk about mistakes. Accurate, well coordinated and oriented procedures have been followed to the preservation of the monument,” said Molina.
Fr. Nieva commented on the other hand that “the protection and conservation of this World Heritage is a shared task. We have worked hand in hand with international experts and organizations to guarantee the security and care of the monument, and we will continue to do so with the same commitment.”
In an interview granted to the Spanish newspaper ABCThe priest said that the restoration works of the Mosque-Catedral de Córdoba could end “by mid-2026”.
The Mosque-Catedral de Córdoba
The Mosque -Cathedral of Córdoba, declared a World Heritage by UNESCO in 1984, is a monument whose origin dates back to the seventh century, when a mosque was erected on the remains of a Visigothic basilica.
In 1236, with the reconquest, the mosque was transformed into a Catholic cathedral, although its Islamic structure was respected. In 1523 chapels and the main altarpiece were built.
It is currently one of Córdoba’s main tourist attractions, surpassing Alhambra. It has a reinforced security system, which includes 36 guards and 50 video cameras.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I am husband since 2008. With my wife we have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before birth. Since I joined ACI Press in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Colonia, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the family’s synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Sinodality, in 2023. I follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers the persecution of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as the ecclesial news in the region.