(01/08/2025)
Department of Culture and Heritage
The intervention, proposed by the town council and the conservationist association Alrum, is valued at more than 60,000 euros and is expected to last three months.
The Consell de Mallorca and the Diocese of Mallorca, through their Joint Heritage Commission, have begun restoration work on the choir of the Sant Bartomeu parish church in Alaró. This project aims to recover one of the most unique elements of the Mallorcan Baroque. The Vice President of the Consell de Mallorca and Councillor for Culture and Heritage, Antònia Roca, visited the site today, accompanied by the town’s mayor, Llorenç Perelló, and parish priest Mn. Joan Pons.
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The Consell de Mallorca and the Diocese Restore the Choir of Sant Bartomeu Parish in Alaró, a Gem of Mallorcan Baroque
The intervention, proposed by the town council and the conservationist association Alrum, is valued at more than 60,000 euros and is expected to last three months. It is being carried out through the Joint Commission and will restore a unique piece of the island’s religious heritage. Antònia Roca highlighted that in 2025, the Joint Commission has been allocated a total of 955,000 euros by the island’s institution to restore or rehabilitate 22 projects in 15 municipalities across Mallorca.
The restoration work is being led technically by Raquel Garduño and involves a specialised team comprising Mercedes Tomé Prieto, Estrella López Armendáriz, Cati Mora, Marisa Ramisa Vallés, Llúcia Real Soler, and Elena Sanz.
The choir, created by Swiss artist Antonio Soldati at the end of the 18th century, stands out for its exuberant polychrome plaster decoration, vegetal motifs, cherubs, and a gilded wooden railing. Measuring nine meters in length and covering more than 120 square meters of intervention, it is a unique structure within Mallorcan religious architecture, contrasting with the usual austerity of other parish choirs.
The project includes meticulous surface cleaning, fixing and consolidation of original materials — plaster, wood, stone, and ceramics — volumetric and chromatic reintegration of deteriorated elements, and the replacement of missing tiles with custom-made pieces, always respecting the principles of reversibility and discernibility.
During the visit, Vice President Antònia Roca emphasised that “the Consell de Mallorca is committed to the conservation and recovery of the island’s historical heritage” and stated that this project in Alaró demonstrates how institutional collaboration and technical rigour can bring to light and restore unique elements of Mallorcan cultural identity.
For his part, Alaró’s mayor, Llorenç Perelló, stressed that “preserving our heritage is not only about safeguarding our history but also ensuring that future generations can know and enjoy an irreplaceable artistic and cultural legacy. This project has been made possible thanks to institutional collaboration, which has once again proven effective when the common goal is to protect what defines us as a community.”