Pontevedra
Pontevedra is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the Comarca and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is also the capital of its own municipality which is often considered an extension of the actual city.
The city is best known for its urban planning, pedestrianisation and the charm of its old town. Between 2013 and 2020, the city received numerous awards for its urban planning, like the international European Intermodes Urban Mobility Award in 2013, the 2014 Dubai International Best Practices Award for Sustainable Development awarded by UN-Habitat in partnership with Dubai Municipality and the Excellence Award of the center for Active Design in New York City in 2015, among others. The city also won the European Commission's first prize for urban safety in 2020.
Surrounded by hills, the city is located on the edge of a ria at the mouth of the Lérez river by the sea, at the end of the Ria de Pontevedra, in the heart of the Rías Baixas. An economic centre and tourist destination, with a population of 83,260 in 2020, it is at the head of a metropolitan area around its ria of more than 200,000 inhabitants comprising the municipalities of Poio, Marín, Sanxenxo, Bueu, Vilaboa, Cerdedo-Cotobade, Ponte Caldelas, Barro and Soutomaior.
Pontevedra has the second most important historic center in Galicia, after Santiago de Compostela. A city of art and history, the city is known as The Good City or The City of the Lérez. The city is also an important stopover on the Portuguese Way path of the Camino de Santiago: the circular church of the Pilgrim Virgin, built for the pilgrims in the 18th century, has a floor plan in the shape of a scallop shell and there are scallop shells sculpted in the arches of the medieval Burgo Bridge.
Pontevedra city has an important group of squares of medieval origin and monumental religious buildings, including the Basilica of Saint Mary Major with its plateresque Renaissance façade, the Baroque Church of the Pilgrim Virgin with its rounded façade, the ruins of the Gothic Convent of San Domingo, the Gothic Church of San Francisco, the Baroque Church of San Bartholomew and the Gothic Convent of Santa Clare. Its old town also contains numerous noble houses with coat of arms, mansions – the Mendoza Mansion, Villa Pilar – as well as old palaces such as the 18th century Mugartegui Palace, which is now the headquarters of the Rias Baixas Wine Regulatory Council, or the Counts of Maceda Palace, which is now a Parador. Another major symbol of the city is the Ravachol Parrot, whose statue is in the city centre. The city also has a marina close to its historic centre. At present, Pontevedra is a city in full revival. It has become the flagship city of the network of walkable cities and one of the cities in the world where children live best, known as The City of Children.
Pontevedra is an important administrative, political, judicial, military, historical and cultural centre. In the 16th century it was the largest city in Galicia. Nowadays it is marked by a large presence of administrative services, justice, political, military and cultural.
History
Name
The name of the city is likely a Latin composite of pons, pontis and veter, vetera, veterum. In Galicia, Latin pons, a masculine word, became feminine, hence Vulgar Latin Ponte Vetera, which became by the 13th century the modern Galician language toponymy Pontevedra, "the old bridge", in reference to an old Roman bridge across the Lérez River which had been located near the 12th century Burgo bridge that remains in place today.The name of the town derives from the Latin pontem veteram, which means "old bridge" and refers to the first bridge that the Romans built to cross the Lérez River and the Ria de Pontevedra. However, nowadays there are historians who say that since in ancient Latin, ponto meant sea and vedra means green, its name could be due to the particular greenness of the sea caused by the seaweed tides, being the meaning of the name of the city that of the green sea.
Pre-history and antiquity
A local legend relates the foundation of Pontevedra to Teucer, hero of the Trojan War, a legend which was reinforced with the suspicion that Greek traders might have arrived to the Rias Baixas area in ancient times. However, historians and archaeologists tend to agree that the initial settlement was probably formed during the integration of Gallaecia into the Roman Empire. The current name of the city is a Latin composite, derived from Pons/Pontis and Veteris/Vetera, hence PonteVetera, and thence Galician language Ponte-Vedra, "the old bridge", in reference to the old Roman bridge across Lérez River. Well-connected since Roman times, Pontevedra consolidated itself as an intermediate town during the Suebic period.Medieval and early modern
During the 12th century Pontevedra rose as an important commercial centre; it reached its zenith in the 15th century as a trade and communications hub. Pontevedra was the main Galician urban centre. In fact, Pontevedra has the second largest "old town" in Galicia, only after Santiago de Compostela. Pontevedra was on the route of the Way of Saint James, namely its southern or the Portuguese Way. The Church of the Pilgrim Virgin, with its distinctive scallop-shaped floor plan, is a destination for tourists and pilgrims.In the 16th century it still was a commercial city, with an increase in fishing. At that time, Pontevedra was the largest Galician port, as it was a secure port open to the sea. One of Christopher Columbus' ships, the carrack Santa Maria, originally named La Gallega, was built in Pontevedra. It was in centuries later that the sedimentation caused by Lérez river gradually rendered the harbour unsuitable for large-scale navigation. The end of the 16th century marked the beginning of the decline of the city, a decline which had already started for the rest of Galicia from the end of the 15th century.
Late modern
The situation would worsen during the 17th and 18th centuries. The port drastically reduced its activity due to the mentioned geographical causes. Furthermore, political decisions and dynastic conflicts provoked a general decay in trade, thus resulting in the depopulation of the city; the population was reduced in half during that time, also affected by epidemics.In the beginning of the 19th century fishing, arts and crafts kept the economy going. With the establishment of new provincial division in 1833 Pontevedra saw itself transformed into a provincial capital. The city then grew and became an administrative, cultural and commercial centre. The introduction of the railway also reconnected the city with the rest of the country, after having lost its harbour. All in all, Pontevedra sees in this century a cultural, economic and urban revival. It is in Pontevedra when, in 1853, Xoán Manuel Pintos publishes the first book in modern Galician, A gaita gallega.
20th century
Pontevedra entered the 20th century with great prospects. The city was at the heart of Galician culture and politics. Galicianists – such as Alexandre Bóveda and Castelao – took up residence in the city, where in 1931 they founded the Partido Galeguista, the origin of contemporary Galician nationalism. However, the Spanish Civil War and subsequent Francoist dictatorship suddenly ended Pontevedra's progression. Political repression and economic hardships forced many to emigrate.In the 1940s–1960s the government of the Franco dictatorship granted a Free Zone and a Development Pole to the neighbouring city of Vigo, a rare case in Spain, which favoured the economic development of this city in the province of Pontevedra to the detriment of the provincial capital, Pontevedra, becoming rival cities. The recovery of the local economy only partially began in the 1960s, with the introduction of some industrial activity. However, these very activities would later cause serious environmental and health concerns, forcing the eventual closure of some of them.
With the end of the dictatorship in 1975 the construction sector also developed. Improvements in the communications network during the 1980s and 1990s helped Pontevedra to regain weight in the Rias Baixas region, acting again as a trade hub and focusing on its administrative functions as provincial capital. The introduction of university studies in the city during the 1990s contributed further to the growth of the city. Since 1999 Pontevedra has seen intense urban renewal and cultural revival, positively influencing the local economy.