The València City Council has commenced the bidding process for the restoration of the Casa del Relojero and an adjacent building, following the approval of the basic and execution project last September. The Local Government Board approved the initiation of the contract award procedure on Friday, outlining the specifications in the technical requirements document.
The project is set with an initial budget of €2.28 million (€2,281,573.17) and a completion timeframe of 12 months from the date of the verification act. The restoration will cover a total constructed area of 652 square metres, and upon completion, the site will feature various exhibition spaces, outdoor areas, and administrative offices.
The intervention will also restore original elements of the Casa del Relojero, including carpentry, flooring, furniture from the former candle factory, wallpaper, and 19th-century pictorial elements, alongside the redevelopment of the courtyard and its surroundings.
Once the works are completed, the building will serve as a Centre for the Interpretation of the Holy Grail, offering a range of educational and accessible content based on the latest research and studies surrounding the Holy Grail. The exhibition project is the result of collaborative efforts from specialists in history, architecture, archaeology, literature, art, music, and film.
The construction project has been drafted by architect Juan Miguel Martínez López, based on the museographic project developed in late 2023 by historian Miguel Navarro Sorní, who holds a doctorate in Ecclesiastical History from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Navarro is a professor of Church History and director of Publications at the Faculty of Theology of València at the UCV, president of the Academy of Ecclesiastical History of València, and a member of the scientific association Roma nel Rinascimento.
