The Gran Garaje is an

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

building dating from 1915, located in the city centre of Pontevedra, Spain.

Location

The building is located at Benito Corbal Street, in the pedestrian and commercial centre of the city, near

Plaza de la Herrería The Plaza de la Herrería (Blacksmith's square) is a large square located on the edge of the old town of Pontevedra (Spain), inside the old city walls. It is the main square of the old town and has an area of about 2,000 m2. It includes the sm ...

in Pontevedra, Spain.

History

The building was built in 1915 in the old Progreso street, according to a project by the architect Maximiliano Limeses Artime. It was built on a plot of land where there were some old garages. The building was built to serve as a stopping place for horse-drawn carriages. In the 1960s, with the rise of the car in the city, its facade was renovated, the new roof was built and the building was renamed the Gran Garaje, serving as a paid car park with a capacity of 75 vehicles (hence its name). In the 1970s, the side entrance areas of the building were used as two small shops, one for souvenirs and the other for toys. In the 1980s, years of great real estate speculation in the city, it was saved from demolition for the construction of a multi-storey building when its sale was unsuccessful, leaving in view the dividing walls of the large buildings surrounding it. In 2014, the car park and the two small shops at the entrance were permanently closed. After a complete renovation of the facade and the interior, the building was opened on 5 May 2017 as a fashion shop of the

Mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

clothing chain.

Description

The building has an

facade and a large, spacious and diaphanous interior, due to the original function for which it was designed. It has an area of 900 square metres. It is a single-storey building with a ground floor. The white facade has a large square wooden door recessed in the centre and two elongated low-arched doors on each side. The roof, listed and protected as a heritage feature, consists of a

roof lantern A roof lantern is a daylighting architectural element. Architectural lanterns are part of a larger roof and provide natural light into the space or room below. In contemporary use it is an architectural skylight structure. A lantern roof wil ...

, a

trellis Trellis may refer to: Structures * Trellis (architecture), an architectural structure often used to support plants (especially vineyards) * Trellis drainage pattern, a drainage system Technology * Trellis (graph), a special kind of graph used ...

and a roof pitch dating from 1965. The

decoration with floral motifs is centred above the four side doors. The upper frieze is abundantly decorated and the central part of the façade above the large entrance door is crowned by a circular pediment framed between two small columns, under which is the inscription in relief ''Gran Garaje''.

Gallery

File:Gran Garaje Art Nouveau Building.jpg, Façade File:Front of the Gran Garaje Building.jpg, Entrance File:Gran Garaje - Mango.jpg, Façade and Mango shop File:Central section of the Gran Garaje Building.jpg, Central section File:Left side doors of the Gran Garaje Building.jpg, Left side doors File:Gran Garaje - Right side doors.jpg, Right side doors File:Pontevedra Capital, edificio modernista Gran Garaje.jpg, The Gran Garaje building in 2014 before its renovation

Location

History

Description

Gallery

References

See also

Related articles

External links