Image: Castelao Building of the Pontevedra Museum, Valencia
The Deputación de Pontevedra says archaeological excavations at the Convento de Santa Clara have moved ahead significantly, with finds including medieval structures, burial grounds, historic pavements and more than a thousand archaeological pieces already documented. The work is being presented as a key step in determining the future of the convent, which the provincial government wants to turn into the next building of the Museo de Pontevedra.
According to the Deputación, the excavation campaign began on 1 June and was discussed publicly on Tuesday by president Luis López and vice-president Rafa Domínguez at the convent site. They were accompanied by the team from A Citania Arqueoloxía e Xestión de Patrimonio S.L., which is carrying out the excavations, and by Rafa Rodríguez, the Deputación’s archaeologist. The institution says nearly twenty professionals are involved, including archaeologists, restorers, assistants and specialists from different universities and research centres.
The latest balance reported by Domínguez points to work concentrated in several parts of the complex. In the western area, the team has documented the remains of medieval buildings, a ramp and a door thought possibly to have belonged to a storage structure. In the cloister area, the pavement has been removed so burials can be documented, while in the church area no intervention has yet begun. In the wooded area, divided into sections, a first zone has already produced three more burials in addition to those identified in the first interventions in 2022.
Domínguez said the excavation is not merely a preliminary step but the intervention that will allow the best decisions to be made about the space when it reopens to the public. He said that everything documented beneath the site will shape Santa Clara’s future and that each element and recovered object helps the team understand the place better and conserve it with maximum respect. López, meanwhile, said the excavation is “crucial” for the next stages and the future musealisation of the convent.
The president linked the archaeological campaign directly to the wider project for Santa Clara, saying the aim is to establish the foundations for turning the convent into the seventh site of the Museo de Pontevedra. He described the initiative as a major heritage undertaking that has required complex procedures and ongoing dialogue with other administrations. The Deputación also said the project includes a different solution from one previously envisioned for a “cemetery of pieces” in the garden.
The institution has framed Santa Clara as both a heritage recovery and a cultural future for the city. Domínguez said the goal is not simply to rehabilitate a building, but to return Pontevedra a unique space that is open, alive and full of content, combining heritage, culture and citizenship. López said the convent is preparing “to shine” and that the intervention is helping uncover the hidden history behind the monastery.
Among the finds highlighted so far are medieval building remains in the western sector, together with numerous burials, historic paving and the large total of archaeological pieces already recovered. The work began on 1 June and is continuing with the stated aim of informing the protected conservation and future musealisation of Santa Clara.
