Before its restoration in 2003, the Palace of the Kings of Navarra (current headquarters of the Royal and General Archive of Navarra) was in an advanced state of degradation. This deterioration was a consequence of centuries of continuous use, inadequate interventions, partial abandonment and military conflicts, which seriously affected both the structural integrity and the heritage value of the building. The complex accumulated various construction pathologies that compromised its physical stability and historical conservation.
First of all, significant structural damage was detected: weakened load-bearing walls, widespread cracks, partial collapses and deformations in soil structures, especially in the upper areas. Since it stopped functioning as a military barracks in 1971, the building suffered functional abandonment and prolonged lack of maintenance, aggravated by inappropriate use as a barracks, which altered original spaces and materials. It is likely that the modifications derived from military use over the centuries contributed to a disorganized internal layout, with interventions that ignored traditional construction logic and the original materials.
Additionally, the building was damaged by several historic explosions and fires, such as those that occurred in the powder magazine in 1675 and 1733. These events deteriorated both the exterior appearance and the integrity of the most exposed materials. Other damage came from intentional fires that occurred between 1978 and 1983, leaving the building in a deeply degraded and abandoned state. Acts of vandalism destroyed parts of the roof, wooden floors and interior finishes. At that time, the population of Navarra expressed concern about the situation of the building and the risk of irreversible loss of the palace.
It is inferred that, at the time of the restoration, the building had numerous pathologies caused by humidity in what had become a dilapidated state. Having lost a large part of the roof and floors, precipitation and water leaks inevitably affected conservation. Moisture penetrated both by capillarity and through damaged roofs and drainage systems. These humid conditions caused the degradation of coatings, loss of mortar, the appearance of saline efflorescence and biological proliferation in several areas of the building.
Functional abandonment for much of the century, added to vandalism and lack of maintenance, accelerated the deterioration process. In December 1994, more than half of the Royal Palace was demolished, despite the fact that this was not foreseen in the initial project. Authorities claimed that the demolished area had been added later and was not part of the original structure. However, some interpreted it as a violation of heritage protection laws and a failure to defend the Cultural and Artistic Heritage of Navarra.
Before the rehabilitation intervention, the ground floor of the palace preserved a patio of approximately 20 x 20 meters, partially porticoed on two sides. The portico was supported by six-meter-high wooden pillars crowned with corbels carved with zoomorphic motifs. These corbels and pillars supported a closed upper gallery added in the 1st century, which ran along the upper level of the patio. Likewise, under the gallery there was a Gothic noble staircase from the 19th century. A cistern of great historical importance was also preserved in the center of the patio. All of these elements—the carved corbels, the upper gallery, the staircase and the cistern—were eliminated during the intervention.
In the west wing of the building, corresponding to the old royal apartments, there was a living room on the ground floor with a wooden coffered ceiling decorated with oak leaf motifs, dating from the end of the 19th century. This roof was severely damaged by fires after abandonment and was eventually not restored but removed. There were citizen mobilizations in defense of these historical architectural elements and against their demolition, but they were not taken into account by the competent authorities and they did not manage to prevent the loss of these heritage assets.
The following photograph, taken after the demolition of the east wing and the cleaning of the medieval structure, shows that only the building built in the 17th century, during the reign of Sancho the Wise, remained standing. The state of the building before the rehabilitation was critical, requiring a comprehensive intervention to guarantee its conservation, functionality and valorization as a first-rate heritage asset.
Some exterior facades were so damaged that they could not be restored with conventional techniques. For this reason, Rafael Moneo chose to rebuild them respecting the original shapes, materials and textures, wrapping the existing volume with new ashlar facades. This method was not applied to the entire building, which is why the new adjoining constructions were made with the same stone but treated with modern techniques. This context justified the need for a global intervention that combined heritage conservation principles with contemporary solutions to adapt the structure to its new function as a historical archive.