Date Published: 22/10/2019
ARCHIVED - 5-euro entrance fee introduced for visitors to Murcia cathedral
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
Admission remains free of charge for residents of the Region of Murcia
As of Tuesday 22nd October tourists visiting the most emblematic of all the attractions in the city of Murcia, the Cathedral, will be charged an entrance fee of 5 euros, as part of an initiative launched by the company DNA Expertus Turismo y Ocio in conjunction with the Cathedral chapter.
The same company manages tourism at various other attractions in Spain including the cathedral of Tarragona and the Thyssen museum in Madrid, and has spent three years working on a program entitled “Conocer para conservar” (learn about it and preserve it) in Murcia cathedral. Exactly how the scheme will work has not been made clear but people resident in the Region of Murcia are to be exempt from the admission fee and they and those attending Mass or entering to pray silently will enter through the door of San Juan Bautista on the left hand side of the main façade, while tourists are to be channelled through the door if San José on the right.
In this way it is hoped that disruption to religious services and activities will be minimized.
The new tourist initiative also includes 80 state-of-the-art audio-video guides which are to be made available to fee-paying visitors (and for 2 euros to residents in the Region), informing them of aspects of religious, artistic, cultural, architectural and historical interest in the building at 27 stop-off points in the main building, the museum and the tower, and the route followed also includes the Plaza Cardenal Belluga outside the cathedral to admire the exterior of the building. These guides have been produced in Spanish, English and German.
From now on visiting times are between 10.00 and 17.00 but Mass times are unaffected, featuring six services a day on weekdays and seven at weekends. The services which are held before 10.00 will be held in the Chapel of Los Vélez, while evening Mass is to take place in the Capilla del Baptisterio.
Other details include full guided tours for 9 euros (or 12 euros if the bell tower is included), while one small concession to the concept of places of worship welcoming all members of the public is that children under the age of 7 will not be asked to pay for admission or to use the guides. Those aged between 8 and 16 or over the age of 65, as well as groups of adults, schoolchildren and pensioners, will be required to pay 3 euros per person, while the disabled and unemployed are exempt from the admission charge.
The new initiative also includes plans to gradually install new information panels in the Cathedral.
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