The church of Sant Antolí inaugurates the new main altar in a cop restaurat

The performance has been carried out by the restaurateur Ramon Solé.

This month's 8th has celebrated the inauguration of the new main altar of the church of Sant Antolí, a cop has completed the restoration tasks that the Aitona City Council has promoted throughout the last few weeks. The act was attended by the mayor of Aitona, Rosa Pujol; and the Bisbe of Lleida, Mons. Salvador Giménez Valls.

The objective of this action at the main altar was to guarantee the status of conservation and dignify this religious element of high symbolic value. The work has been carried out by the restorer Ramon Solé, which will encapsulate the restoration work carried out at the end of the hermitage of Sant Joan, to whom the council has thanked and valued the city's history.

Rosa Pujol, mayor of Aitona, explains that “"The church of Sant Antolí is one of our most precious treasures and a religious, heritage and tourist activity of great relevance and enormous significance for the people and for our territory. Actions with this allow us to continue dignifying this space”.

The church of Sant Antolí and the main altarpiece

On the guided route “Passejada pel nucli antic” by Fruiturisme, the church of Sant Antolí is the heritage site that is visited and that donates cloenda to the tour. Both the baroque style façade and the different spaces, altars and altars inside the church allow us to connect the history, culture and the various heritages and traditions of the municipality.

The original altarpiece was in the French Baroque style, the work of the sculptor Lluís Bonifàs i Massó (1730–1786), heir to a group of sculptors from Barcelona and a typical figure of Catalan Baroque sculpture. It is the work of a high-class artist, since in his seventh work he combines refined technique, mystical conception and academic ideology. In 1763 he was awarded the Academic category of merit of the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid (keeping in mind that in the 18th century there were only four Catalan sculptors who became academics). The altarpiece contained the Ducal escutcheon of the Medinacelli.

In 1936, during the Civil War, the church of Aitona was desecrated, cremated and both the baroque altarpiece and the organ that was part of the choir were destroyed. The 1890s saw a reform of the church and the 1950s followed the war of 1936-39. Since the end of the war, until the day of Sant Josep in 1956, Sant Gaietà will be the church of Aitona, a day that will be consecrated every second.

The current altarpiece is from this period, a magnificent work, decorated with gold, imitating the Baroque. Presiding the retaule are three figures: in the center, the patron Sant Antolí; to the seva dreta, Sant Antoni de Pàdua; ia la seva esquerra, Sant Francesc Xavier.