The first phase of works at the Gaudí Palace for the installation of an elevator in the north tower of the Episcopal Palace of Astorga has been completed. The work began last February following approval by the Territorial Heritage Commission.
During the last few weeks, the two most technically complex operations have been carried out, such as the establishment of a shaft for the insertion of a piston that will be used to lift the elevator. Last Tuesday, May 9, a complex operation was carried out to insert a piston eight meters long and weighing 800 kilos through a small door in the north tower. Due to the dimensions of the piston, it could only be introduced through a small door located on the roof of the north tower, so a crane had to be installed in the Melgar park to reach that point and lower the piston through the elevator shaft to the silo built in the previous months where it will be definitively housed.
Thus begins the second phase, of less technical complexity, for the installation of the elevator elements and the finishing touches. When Antonio Gaudí planned the construction of the Episcopal Palace of Astorga, he decided to install in the north tower the staircase that gives access to all floors of the Palace, in the central shaft of the staircase, he also left a space for the installation of an elevator that would have been one of the first to be built in Spain.
Today the Gaudí Palace recovers this element and the elevator will give access to the Hidden Palace, spaces that can be discovered beyond the four visitable floors of the monument.
