The stone that started it all

We have heard many times that "it is not how you start, but how you finish". And that "what begins well begins well ends well. A clear advocate of the importance of laying the last stones was St. Josemaría, the founder of the University. However, the first President, Ismael Sánchez-Bella, managed to convince him to lay the first stone of Central Building in a solemn ceremony with a blessing and the presence of the authorities. Not surprisingly, it was not only the first stone of a building, but also the first stone of campus. At final, the first stone of the University.

Blessing and transfer

The official ceremony took place on October 25, 1960 in a place that today remains, however, unbuilt, between the current Goimendi and Belagua halls of residence. The first building had been planned there, although it was finally decided to relocate it, with the consequent transfer of its first stone. The site that had been allocated to it was not suitable, so it was approved to move it to the northeast, to the space where it is now, further away from the river and at a higher elevation, thus gaining in perspective, dignity and representativeness. The same for what was to be the main building of the University.

The blessing of the first stone was framed in the official opening of the academic year 60/61. After the academic ceremony, held in the Refectory of the Cathedral -today, the Diocesan Museum-, some of the attendees, among them many authorities, moved to what today is the campus, which at that time were only empty fields. There, the nuncio of His Holiness John XXIII, Monsignor Antoniutti, blessed the first stone before the founder of the University. This was followed by words from the Mayor of Pamplona, Don Miguel Javier Urmeneta, and concluded by the Cardinal-Archbishop of Tarragona, Dr. Arriba y Castro. Then, the personalities present signed different conference proceedings that they deposited in the lead box housed in the casket. After the ceremony, the first stone was left in the open, in the middle of nowhere.

Perhaps infected by St. Josemaría, and faithful to his spirit, the first ones soon forgot about the foundation stone. "We were clearly aware that we were laying it out of pure ceremony, and then nobody remembered it any more," recalled Juan Antonio Paniagua, then University Secretary of the University. Although that did not seem to be entirely true, since the exact measurements of the stone were taken so that it could later be fitted into the wall of the building.

That moment came in February 1962 when the university authorities agreed to transport the first stone to the central entrance of the Building, and embedded it at the bottom of the first entrance hall, at ground level, as an integral part of the right wall, perpendicular to the façade. The inner face of that wall protrudes into the wall of a storeroom that can be entered from the foot of the staircase leading to Office of the Executive Council, in front, looking slightly to the right, clearly standing out from the wall.

Groundbreaking of 15 buildings (on 3 campus)

Since its foundation in 1952 and until the construction of Central Building, the University lived "on loan" in the Chamber of Comptos, the Museum of Navarre and Pavilion F of the Hospital. With the laying of the first stone, everything began to change. And after that first building, and over the years, many others have been erected to house new Schools and services, to give accommodation to our students, to do research and to offer attendance healthcare.

Today, the University occupies 113 hectares, of which 7.5% is occupied by buildings. And that is only in the campus of Pamplona.

In San Sebastian, the University has two sites: the oldest one located in Ibaeta and another one in the Miramon Technology Park, with buildings dedicated to classrooms, laboratories, Library Services, offices... They total 28,000 m2.

The new campus in Madrid, consisting of the Clinic's headquarters and the new building at postgraduate program, occupies more than 60,000 m2 at the service of the teaching, the research and the attendance.