The Museo Colegiata de Sar (MuSar) in Santiago de Compostela is currently engaged in an extensive project to study and catalogue its medieval artefacts, with the participation of a team from the University of Vigo.
The initiative focuses on various pieces from the former medieval priory, which have been stored and scattered across different areas of the collegiate church. The team includes professors from the Faculty of History at the Ourense campus: Victoriano Nodar, who co-directs the project alongside historian Ramón Yzquierdo, Francisco Javier Pérez Rodríguez, and Alejandro Campos, a doctoral student in the Interuniversity Programme for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, coordinated by the University of Vigo.
This research is funded by grants for museum centres in 2026 from the Consellería de Cultura of the Xunta de Galicia and is being conducted under a research and development contract between the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela and the University of Vigo.
Project leaders explain that the study involves examining all medieval sculptures discovered during restoration and repaving work on the building, as well as tombstones and inscriptions from former burials. Concurrently, a study of documents from Santa María de Sar, currently housed in the Diocesan Archive, is underway. After a selection and analysis process, medieval documents have been scanned and catalogued using a method that includes transcriptions and comments on their historical and documentary context.
Among these documents are “true documentary jewels,” some dating back to the 9th century, which testify to the historical significance of Santa María de Sar within the broader history of Compostela. Regarding epigraphy, researchers note that this work is providing a useful tool for uncovering new information about funerary slabs, sarcophagi, and inscriptions, some of which have not been previously identified.
The study focuses on three of the museum's most significant collections: the documentary collection, examined by Professor Francisco Javier Pérez Rodríguez; the collection of medieval tombstones and sarcophagi, studied by epigraphist Álvaro Castresana López; and the collection of Romanesque and Gothic sculpture, researched by Professor Victoriano Nodar and Alejandro Campos.
According to the organisation, these actions are part of a larger effort to renew the museum project and update the permanent collection of the Museo Colegiata de Sar (MuSar), which will support future updates and improvements in museography.
To promote the project, guided tours and educational meetings for schoolchildren have been conducted, aiming to bring the general public closer to the immense wealth of the monumental complex of Sar.
