Researcher Anna Dulska promotes the first conference Heritage conference in Sijena

A fruitful dialogue on conservation, report identity. This was one of the achievements of the first conference Heritageconference of Sijena, held on November 7 and 8, which brought together numerous specialists, volunteers, institutional representatives, and the general public at the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Sijena (Huesca). Under the degree scroll : Living Architecture. Initial Vision, Transformation, and Future of the Royal Monastery, the meeting organized by researcher Anna Dulska, from group , Creativity, and Culture" group at the Institute for Culture and Society ICS) at the University of Navarra; the Miguel Servet Institute of programs of study , the Villanueva de Sijena Town Council, and the Spanish Assembly of the Order of Malta. Through various Cultural Activities Office, which were fully booked, the architectural, spiritual, and musical heritage of Sijena was highlighted. 

The conference with a Eucharistic celebration on All Saints' Day, dedicated to the report Queen Sancha of Castile and Poland, founder of the monastery; her mother, Queen Rica of Poland; and the San Juanist nuns of Sijena, with a very special remembrance of Sister Isabel, the last nun of the community, who recently passed away. 

The ceremony also honored all those who, over the centuries, entrusted the prayers for their souls to the Sijensen community. The liturgy, celebrated in the monastic church, was accompanied by the Voces Amigas de Sena Choir, whose repertoire underscored the spiritual dimension of the monastery and its historical role as a place of report, prayer, and welcome.

Transformation and future

On Saturday, the roundtable discussion Sijena: Living Architecture. Initial Vision, Transformation, and Future took place, bringing together several experts who offered complementary perspectives on the monastery's construction history, the restoration criteria applied in the 20th and 21st centuries, the challenges of reconstructing the Mudejar coffered ceilings, and future scenarios for the monumental complex.

The meeting, moderated by Anna Dulska, was attended by architects Sergio Sebastián, author of the renovation and museum conversion of the former dormitories; Mariano Pemán, manager decades of work the monastery and of award-winning interventions and national benchmarks in monumental restoration; Marta de la Rosa, organizer of the workshop on future projects at the monastery; and Juan Naya, leader of project Mágica project .

Next, architects Pemán and Sebastián led a visit of the monastery. During the tour, they explained the architectural transformations; the monastery's basements; the complex's fillings and historical levels; the relationship between architecture and acoustics; the evolution of the cloister, the pantheon, and the dormitories, as well as the project the latter. 

Spain and Poland

One of the most moving moments of the conference the inauguration of the Paseo de Rica de Polonia, named after the mother of Doña Sancha de Castilla y Polonia, who may have spent her final days in the monastery founded by her daughter. According to Katarzyna Śmigielska, deputy director of the Polish Institute of Culture in Madrid, Rica could be the first Polish woman documented in Spain, which adds a valuable historical nuance to the recognition of her figure, framing it in cultural diplomacy. "This event aroused particular interest among the inhabitants of the Monegros region, including the Polish diaspora, reinforcing the living connection between the transnational links between Spain and Poland," explains Dulska.

The conference with a concert by the Ensemble Peregrina, conducted by Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett. The program, dedicated to Rica of Poland, Sancha of Castile, and Hedvig of Silesia, offered a journey through the sacred music of women in medieval Europe, with pieces from Sijena, Las Huelgas, and Trzebnica (Silesia, Poland). Prior to the performance, the artistic director introduced the audience to the Education musical culture of women in the average, the relationship between the spiritual and artistic dimensions of monastic music, and the musical reflections of the cult of universal and regional saints. The artists expressed their admiration for the extraordinary acoustics of the temple. The "deeply moving" event served to "reaffirm the strong social roots of Sijena's heritage and demonstrate the monastery's capacity to become a cultural bridge between past and present, and between European territories."