The removal of the construction structures once again allows the monument’s imposing scale, standing more than 16 meters tall, to be appreciated, along with the results of cleaning the stone and bronze sculptures. However, the work has not yet been fully completed, as the perimeter fence remains in place and will be removed shortly. Restorers are continuing to work on reconstructing and restoring the base and staircase.
Zaragoza City Council has invested 348,608 euros in work that required specialists to spend months working across all eight levels of the monument. The intervention included cleaning and consolidating the stone, treating the bronze elements, restoring deteriorated volumes, and removing stains, encrustations, and remnants of previous restorations.
THE BRONZE SCULPTURES REGAIN THEIR APPEARANCE
One of the most striking tasks was cleaning the bronze sculptures, including the Allegory of Zaragoza, located at the highest point of the monument. Restorers used various techniques, including laser cleaning, to remove the black encrustations and other remnants accumulated over decades.
The intervention also revealed damage that had remained hidden beneath a wash applied during the restoration carried out in 1998. This situation made it necessary to adapt some of the work initially planned to ensure the proper preservation of the complex.
Now that the scaffolding has been removed, the results of this work and the details of sculptures that had remained hidden behind the construction structure in recent months can be clearly seen.
THE IMPERIAL EAGLE STABILIZED
The restoration also had to address one of the most delicate problems of the intervention: the stability of the imperial eagle incorporated into the sculptural complex. The analyses carried out detected a safety risk affecting the piece, making it necessary to install a new fastening system using fiberglass rods. This solution has stabilized the element and allowed work to advance on restoring a monument affected by erosion, exfoliation, black stains, flaking, and material loss.
While work continues on the lower section, the Los Sitios Monument is once again almost entirely visible to residents and visitors, restoring one of the most recognizable views of the square that bears its name.
The Los Sitios Monument was inaugurated in 1908 on the occasion of the Hispano-French Exhibition and was created by sculptor Agustín Querol. Designed as a large circular diorama, it combines sandstone, limestone, and bronze to depict different scenes, figures, and symbols related to the Sieges of Zaragoza.
