Through the popular video game they created a replica of their church to promote their crowdfunding campaign

In Villamorón, an old Spanish town in the province of Burgos, there is an architectural treasure: the Gothic church of Santiago Apóstol, decorated with a rose window, gargoyles and other special details that exemplify the architectural and cultural history of Spain.

The passage of time has made this jewel of the past fall into disuse; Masses are not currently held due to the lack of inhabitants (there is only 1 inhabitant in the community) and resources, and although the Spanish government has programs for the conservation of cultural heritage, the waiting list is long.

However, a group of about 150 people, some from nearby towns and others from different backgrounds, have been meeting for 18 years under the name "Friends of Villamorón" to safeguard the property and create different fundraising activities, such as tours and concerts inside the church for its conservation. An example of their efforts is the restoration of the exterior of the church that they carried out more than 10 years ago.

Crowdfunding and Minecraft

Once again, the Friends of Villamorón set themselves the important goal of raising funds this time to restore the interior of the church. Taking advantage of new digital tools, Gabriel García, a prominent Minecraft user who creates replicas of famous Spanish buildings on the platform, supported the Friends of Villamorón with the creation of a digital replica of the Santiago Apóstol Church.

For those who don't know, Minecraft is an online "construction" video game where users can create any type of scenario (landscapes, islands, buildings, etc.) with blocks. Several users have used it to create both real buildings (such as Big Ben), as well as those seen in movies (such as Hogwarts castle in Harry Potter), described in literature, or simply from the imagination of the users themselves. As of December 2021, the platform had 112 million players.

With the images of the virtual building, the Friends of Villamorón created a video explaining their intentions to restore the interior of the church that they launched in October along with a crowdfunding or micro-patronage campaign to invite Internet users to make donations for the cause. His initial goal was 15,000 euros, but his ideal goal was 25,000 euros.

His association with other organizations such as Hispania Nostra, and the use of Minecraft to attract donors, served to attract the attention of newspapers such as La Vanguardia, who publicized his ingenious idea of ​​using a video game to share his treasure. The success of their campaign was so great that the Friends of Villamorón closed their campaign in December with 30,000 euros, twice their initial goal.

After having concluded their campaign, the Friends of Villamorón published the following message on their official Facebook page:

“THANK YOU is the word and the feeling that will remain at the heart of our association towards those who have supported this crowdfunding. You are already a central chapter in the history of the #catedraldelpáramo (Santiago Apóstol Church of Villamorón)”.

With information from La Vanguardia and Friends of Villamorón. With images from Minecrafteate.