Cuban News Agency

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The door to the oratory, annexed to the Santísimo Salvador Parochial
Diocese is a relish of the Cuban colonial architecture and preserves
original elements of buildings from the epoch.

Vicente Ortega, a professor and researcher of the Autonomous Metropolitan
University of Mexico (UAMM), told ACN the restoring actions, which began
on Tuesday, are the result of a joint project between the Mexican
university, the Diocese and the Provincial Cultural Heritage Center of Granma.

Ortega, who is teaching a course of wood restoration in Bayamo and leading
the recovery works, said they are using organic materials such as beeswax
to eliminate impurities in the wood.

He added that a mix of acetone with thinner will be employed as well,
which in addition to avoiding having to import chemicals, will stop the
corrosion of the door’s wood and extend its life.

According to Ortega, the works are expected to be finished by February 3,
before the beginning of the fifth Scientific Conference “The cultural
heritage of Iberian American Peoples” scheduled for February 4 to 6 in Bayamo.

The Nuestra Señora de los Dolores chapel dates back to 1733; it survived
to the 1766 earthquake and the historical fire of January 12, 1869 when
the Bayameses burned the city to the ground in the face of the possibility
of falling in the hands of the Spanish military forces.