Main Altarpiece: macebearer


INTERPRETATION OF NATIONAL WEALTH


The Chapel of the Catholic King and Queen (Ferdinand and Isabella) is a grouping of historical monuments which belong to the rich cultural wealth of the Archdiocese of Granada. In this place of Christian heritage we find architectural, sculptural and pictorial elements of a funeral temple; and next to it, the Museum-Sacristy with its remarkable museum features.


Main Altarpiece: macebearer

In this wonderful framework the Eucharist is celebrated daily in memory of the Founding King and Queen. Two celebrations take place annually: 2nd January, the Taking of Granada; 12th October, Columbus Day (in Spain: Hispanic day), 23rd January and 26th November, the liturgical celebration of the anniversary of the monarchs’ death. Therefore, it is an enclave of tangible and intangible, material and ethereal heritage, a base for the historic, cultural and Christian identity of the city of Granada and for those who come from other countries, especially from Spanish America, to see and admire it.

All the above is the starting point for the interpretation of the Royal Chapel. For this reason, the teacher who brings a group of students to visit, should suggest three goals:

  • What do we want our students to know about the Royal Chapel? Through interpretation, we inform. This is a cognitive objective which has to be specified and defined according to basic elements, to a basic message appropriate to the visitors’ age.
  • What do we want our students to feel before, during and after the visit? Through interpretation, we cause feelings and attitudes. This is an aesthetic objective focusing on feelings and emotions which are the key to a person’s development.
  • What do we want our students to live as Christians? Through interpretation, we show the religious meaning of this historic enclave. This is a pastoral objective which should reaffirm faith, support hope and encourage love.
Interpretation is, therefore, not only the transmission of data or information; the interpreter of heritage:
  • Decodes our cultural past given its tangible, intangible and living expressions. In the Royal Chapel, the lives and dreams of its Founding King and Queen rest in peace, as well as the projects and work of those who took part and still take part in creating and maintaining it.
  • Recovers our collective memory, helping to establish bonds among the facts of our heritage and our everyday events. In the Royal Chapel we find a link that helps to explain from where we come and where we are going.
  • Introduces cultural complexity, trying to understand the different contexts in which men and women like us had their own criteria of behaviour. In the Royal Chapel we find an artistic expression that can only be understood in relation with what was produced by the philosophical, theological and scientific thinking of that time.

We have found a lot of information and resources in the google.com, search engine in relation with the relatively recent issue of the interpretation of national heritage, using the keyword: Interpretación del patrimonio (interpretation of national heritage).