Museo Sal Telmo Museoa

USES

The community of Dominican monks occupied the building for several centuries dedicating themselves to prayer and the study of arts and theology.

Over time the order had difficulty covering the costs of upkeep for the building. After the fire that destroyed the town in 1813 and which also affected the monastery, parts of the building were leased to the army to serve as artillery barracks. This situation not only worsened the state of the building, but did little to salvage the monastery’s economic situation.

The State took over the monastery after the disentailment of Church property by led by Mendizabal in 1836. As a result, the monks were permanently evicted and the entire building was handed over to the army to be used as barracks. This situation logically did nothing for the general state of the building.

Towards the end of the 19th century, a few citizens, concerned about the deteriorated condition of the building, wrote to the Town Hall insisting that the monastery be taken care of. The monastery was declared a national monument in 1913. Today, the cloister and tower belong to the State whilst the remainder of the building belongs to the city of San Sebastian, which purchased it in 1928 to reconvert it into a museum.

The new museum was opened to the public in 1932. The building was restored by architects Juan Alday and Francisco Urcola. A new neo-renaissance façade was built; the church was restored and decorated with paintings by José María Sert (800m2 of canvases), and other rooms were enlarged.

It is at this point that the paths of the building and the museum come together. The Municipal Museum, created in 1902, was moved to the newly restored building and named "Museo San Telmo".