The delegate of Culture and Historical Heritage of the Junta in Córdoba, Cristina Casanueva, has authorized the rehabilitation project of the building for a four-star hotel , with 69 rooms and a total of 3,494.10 useful square meters , in the old Convent of Santa Isabel de los Ángeles, in the Santa Marina neighborhood of the capital. The resolution of the delegation is carried out after the favorable report, on March 31, by the Heritage Commission. The budget amounts to 4.99 million euros.
The project generally preserves the structure of the building's bays, redistributing the spaces for the new use, and provides for the consolidation of the vertical and horizontal structure, reinforcing the foundation if necessary.
The main access to the hotel will be through the doorway of the old convent and the compass. The existing door in the Plaza del Conde de Priego will remain as service and evacuation access, and a new service entrance will be opened to the patio of the lemon tree. From the compass, the existing entrance in the west gallery will give access to the reception, distributing the interior through the different galleries. The church is converted into a multipurpose room, with the dining room located in the lower choir.
The rooms are distributed around the different patios. The main staircase of the old convent is preserved and the rest are eliminated, while new elements of vertical communication are introduced in the old hostelry such as stairs and elevator; two elevators in reception; staircase in the northeast corner of the courtyard of the cistern; stairs and elevator in the western bay of the cloister; and elevator in the west area to the choir. The entire built-up band that forms the western limit of the plot is distributed on the ground floor as a service area and facilities, including the lemon tree patio.
Regarding the patios, the compass configuration is generally maintained, recovering the windows of the old sacristy. The pavement will be preserved, establishing a strip of passage between the access and the old church with bush-hammered flagstones; as well as a ramp made with light materials up to the entrance.
In the courtyard of the cistern, the levels of the pavement are modified, establishing two levels in relation to the two orders of gallery. A new pool will also be built in place of the existing one. The recording of the cistern is planned by means of a staircase on one side, the arch of the north gallery currently blinded is freed and the roof of the meeting with the nave of the Church is eliminated. On the first floor, the gallery openings are protected with metal railings. In the elevation of the eastern front, the original central opening on the first floor is recovered, and the existing openings on the western front are expanded. The roof railing is replaced by a factory bib.
In the same way, the project maintains the architectural structure of the cloister, renovating pavements and coverings, and the petos-bench of the intercolumnios on the ground floor, which are considered non-original, are eliminated. In the galleries of the first floor, metal railings are arranged, eliminating the breastplates that hide the bases of the columns.
The courtyard of the workshop is extended in accordance with the catalog file of the Special Plan for the Protection of the Historic Site of Córdoba (Pepch). The elevation of the north front is modified, recovering the existing double arch, the body of most recent construction that has a roof is covered with a roof, and pavements and cladding are renewed.
The courtyard of the lemon tree, a cemetery, undergoes a major transformation, becoming access to the service area of ??the hotel. The niches after the civil war were eliminated, building a one-story body for the transformers, with access from the street, and a new service entrance. Its level is raised from 2.34 to 3.09, to connect with the street by means of a ramp.
In the patio of the refectory, the arches of the north front are freed with glass enclosure. On the west front, laundry room, the holes on the ground floor are recovered. The openings on the east front on the ground floor, refectory, are extended to the ground, and part of the roof of the new body of kitchens is cut out according to the Pepch catalog sheet.
In the courtyard of the bell tower, pavements and coverings are renewed. In the courtyard of San Miguel, the openings on the ground floor are extended to the ground and metal railings are placed on the galleries on the first floor, replacing the existing parapets. The blinded arches of the stairway are recovered, blinding the existing windows. The patio, with the dimension resulting from the archaeological intervention, is covered with a four-sided montera, closing the west front with a window. Pavements and coverings are renewed.
In the exterior elevations, the changes will be minimal. On the roof, the roof gable over the body of the choir is recovered and a roof for installations is opened over the west bay of the cloister, with access below the roof, also incorporating the existing annex headframe for installations. The most recently built body of the workshop is covered with a roof, and the roof of the northeast corner of the cistern patio is preserved, with access from the adjoining stairwell, without a headframe. The courtyard of San Miguel is covered with montera.
The documentation presented includes, in addition to the architectural project documents, one on the restoration of singular elements signed by the restorer Anabel Barrena and a landscaping study signed by the landscape designer Rocío Sainz de Rozas.
By Decree 203/2018, of October 30 , the former Convent of Santa Isabel de los Ángeles, in Córdoba, was registered in the General Catalog of Andalusian Historical Heritage, as an Asset of Cultural Interest , with the type of Monument. In addition, the building is part of the protection environment of the Church of Santa Marina de Aguas Santas and the Historic Site of Córdoba, assets of cultural interest. It is listed in the Special Plan for the Protection of the Historic Site of Córdoba as a monument of the ajerquía.
The old Convent of Santa Isabel has been taking shape, since its foundation in the 15th century, grouping different properties. It is articulated around eight patios, with the volume of the church and choir in a central position, on a plot of 3,793 square meters, according to cadastral data.
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