The Palace of the Deputation of Pontevedra (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
: ,
Galician: ), in
Pontevedra
Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...
, Spain, is the seat of the
Provincial Deputation of Pontevedra, the
provincial government
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, o ...
of the
province of Pontevedra
Pontevedra is a province of Spain, located in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, and Ourense, the country of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. There is a public insti ...
. It is located between the
Alameda de Pontevedra
The ''Alameda del arquitecto Sesmero'' (translated as ''Alameda of architect Sesmero''), popularly known as ''la Alameda'' by the Pontevedrians, is an urban park located in the city centre of Pontevedra in Spain. It is the largest urban green sp ...
and the
Palm Trees Park.
History
The Provincial Council of Pontevedra was constituted in 1836, the last of the four Galician provinces. For decades, it had its seat in the disused
convent of San Francisco, before moving to the current Palace in the
Gran Vía de Montero Ríos
The Gran Vía de Montero Ríos is an avenue in Pontevedra (Spain) located in the Ensanche de Pontevedra, city centre, in the 19th century bourgeois area. It is one of the most emblematic avenues in Pontevedra.
Origin of the name
The avenue wa ...
in 1890. In the 1870s, the project for a new headquarters was undertaken, due to the high cost of maintaining the convent's headquarters.
In 1882, Domingo Rodríguez Sesmero and his son Alejandro Sesmero presented a proposal for the new palace in the classical style. However, the final project would be different: it would show the influence of Alejandro Rodríguez-Sesmero's
eclectic style
Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" . Significantly, Eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact t ...
and decorative sense by adopting certain elements from the
Pontevedra City Hall
The Pontevedra City Hall in Pontevedra, Spain, is the seat of the city council of this Galician city. It is located at the eastern end of the Alameda de Pontevedra, on the edge of the old town. To the west it opens onto the pedestrian España ...
. In 1883, the project was approved and the work was awarded, under the direction of Daniel Rodríguez Vaamonde, who was later replaced by Antonio Crespo and Siro Borrajo. In 1884 the Provincial Council of Pontevedra bought the land where the present Palace is located from the City Hall of Pontevedra. Work began on 1 March 1884 and continued until 8 November 1890.
The building was specially adapted to the needs of distinction, symbolism and