The Palace of Mugartegui, or Palace of the Counts of Fefiñáns in

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the '' Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality wh ...

, Spain, is a Baroque

pazo A Pazo is a type of Galician traditional house. Similar to a manor house, pazos are usually located in the countryside, as former residences of important people in the community (formerly of kings and nobility). They were of crucial importance in ...

dating from the 18th century. It currently houses the headquarters of the Regulatory Council of the Rías Baixas Designation of Origin.

Location

It is located in the Plaza de la Pedreira, in the heart of the old town, very close to the medieval Burgo Bridge. The large quantity of stones accumulated in front of the pazo de Mugartegui to build the pazo as well as the church of Saint Bartholomew and the College of the Society of Jesus led to this space being called the Plaza de la Pedreira (Stone Quarry).

History

The

was built for José Manuel Valladares y Figueroa, Count of Fefiñáns, on the ruins of a 17th-century house. It was built by the master stonemason Pedro Antonio Ferreiro, who completed the construction in 1771 (with the exception of the

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

of the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

), finished in 1773. The building then belonged to the Fernández de Mugártegui family, related to the Valladares, from whom it takes its current name. During the 19th century, the

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

became an educational centre, as it housed the Male Teachers' Training College. In the 20th century, it was divided into several dwellings and, from 1955 onwards, it was the headquarters of the Jovellanos Academy of Studies. Since 1998 it belongs to the City Council of Pontevedra, which bought it on 20 November 1998 The architect Jesús Aser Fole was commissioned to renovate it. The headquarters of the Control Council of the Rías Baixas Wine Denomination of Origin has been located there since 2003, with a wine museum on the ground floor, while its rooms are used by the City Council for protocolary, cultural and social events. It was opened for these new functions on 24 March 2001. Pontevedra_Capital_Escudo_de_armas_Pazo_de_Mugártegui

Pontevedra_Capital_Escudo_de_armas_Pazo_de_Mugártegui

Description

The building has a façade with an entrance arch, a central balcony with a curved railing and a

. The ground floor has arcades that gave access to the former stables and cellars and to the servants' rooms, with seven semicircular arches supported by small columns of

Tuscan order The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but with ...

. Above these arches, the second floor has seven French windows. In front of the central French window there is a small balcony with an iron railing. The central body is framed by

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s crowned with pinnacles. In the upper part, there is a frontispiece on the semicircular split

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

with a

rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

coat of arms crowned with a

great helm The great helm or heaume, also called pot helm, bucket helm and barrel helm, is a helmet of the High Middle Ages which arose in the late twelfth century in the context of the Crusades and remained in use until the fourteenth century. The barreled ...

, and above it, a sundial and a stone sun whose rays emanate from a face with smiling cheeks. The coat of arms shows the arms of the Figueroa, Arango, Quirós and Omaña lineages. On the rear façade, you can see the terrace that once opened up as a viewpoint over the

Lérez The Lérez is a river in South West Galicia, Spain. The river meets the Atlantic Ocean at Pontevedra, where it creates Pontevedra's ria. The sources of the long stream are in Serra do Candán, in the mountain of San Bieito, in the parish of Ac ...

river.

Culture

The main hall of the palace is used by the City Hall of Pontevedra for cultural activities and for the celebration of weddings. In addition, from its balcony, a famous person makes a speech every year to inaugurate the August festivities of the Pilgrim Virgin of Pontevedra.

Gallery

File:Pazo Mugartegui.jpg, Façade File:Pazo de Mugartegui - Praza da Pedreira - Pontevedra.jpg, The palace in Mugartegui square at night File:Pontevedra capital Palacio barroco de Mugártegui.jpg, Front of the palace File:Blasón en casco viejo de Pontevedra.JPG, Balcony and coat of arms File:Pontevedra Capital Plaza de Mugártegui.jpg, The palace on the square by day File:Pontevedra. Soportais Mugartegui. Galiza.jpg, Palace arcades File:Pontevedra-Pazo Mugartegui-Interior (6320373848).jpg, Internal staircase File:Pontevedra-106-pr-pedreira-6v.jpg, Façade File:Pontevedra-Otoño en la Pedreira (8488741892).jpg, Arcades and Mugartegui Square

References

Bibliography

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