On the occasion of International Archives Day, Toledo City Council has organized an open day for this Wednesday and Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., which Toledo residents can attend without an appointment and with free admission. Visitors will be able to tour the municipal archive and contemplate the archaeological remains that were located during the construction of this emblematic building.
This was stated this Tuesday by the Councilor for Culture, Teo García, who has been accompanied by the director of the archive, Mariano García Ruipérez, and who has encouraged Toledo to visit these facilities and contemplate the funds it houses.
García has pointed out that these activities have been scheduled on the occasion of the International Archives Day, which has been celebrated since 2008 every June 9 to commemorate the creation of the International Archives Council by UNESCO in 1948.
Thus, in addition to the open days and guided tours, within the framework of the International Day and the celebration of the Big Week of Corpus Christi, the archive has digitized the texts of 30 proclamations of this celebration that are available on the web www .toledo.es/toledo-always.
As the councilor recalled, the first proclamation dates back to 1946, and in the next few hours the text will be uploaded today, June 8, by the former Minister of Education, Culture and Sports, and former Deputy Mayor of Toledo, Ángel Felpeto. In addition to the proclamations, the Municipal Archive has more than a thousand digitized photographs of this celebration, as well as posters and programs.
Several exhibitions have also been scheduled, such as the physical exhibition of the plans of the Lorenzana building, acquired and restored by the Archive in these months. Two documents that can also be enjoyed online and downloaded in high resolution from the web portal of the City Council of Toledo.
“Next September we will commemorate the third centenary of the birth of Cardinal Francisco Antonio de Lorenzana, so closely linked to our city, our Cathedral and our Corpus Christi, and what better way to expand the funds of the Municipal Archive than with these plans from 1792”, has explained Teo Garcia.
Along with these exhibitions, acquisitions and restorations, more than 1,000 stereoscopic photographs of Toledo have also been digitized, with images captured in the period 1856–1935. “We have a living and dynamic archive that incorporates the feelings of citizens, who have access to a large collection of documents thanks to new technologies and the digitization work that we carry out,” the municipal official stressed.
For his part, Mariano García Ruipérez stressed that each of these stereoscopic photographs has a detailed descriptive sheet made by Carlos Magariños Laguía, an expert in historical photography. “We have the most important public collection that exists of stereoscopic photographs of the city of Toledo”, the director of the archive has pointed out.
