The Pazo de Castro Monteagudo, is an 18th-century

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

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 ...

in Pasantería Street, next to the Plaza de la Leña in the city of

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 whi ...

, Spain, in the heart of the

old town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

History

The pazo Castro Monteagudo was built in 1760, as indicated in a Latin document found during its renovation. Its promoter and owner was José de Castro Monteagudo, the first auditor of the maritime province of Pontevedra. Later, the boys' school was set up on the upper floor, and the shop ''La Imperial'', the restaurant ''La Flor'' and a carpentry workshop were located on the lower floor. In 1928, the

Pontevedra Museum The Pontevedra Museum (formerly the Pontevedra Provincial Museum) is a museum in the Galician city of Pontevedra in Spain. It was founded by the Provincial Deputation of Pontevedra on 30 December 1927 and has six buildings for its exhibitions. ...

bought it from its owner Casimiro Gómez Cobas for 52,000 pesetas to install the museum. This pazo became its first headquarters. Castelao, the museum's founding patron, participated in the ideas for its remodelling and adaptation to become a museum: he drew several designs for the interior distribution and for the upper balcony, which are still preserved. The building was opened to the public as a museum on 10 August 1929. Work on enlarging the pazo began in April 1936. The part with an arch that connects it to the García Flórez

was added in 1943, according to the project of the architect Robustiano Fernández Cochón, who was also responsible for incorporating a tower into the

Description

This urban

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

has a main façade on Pasantería Street with austere characteristics, with two windows and a central door with a balcony on the upper floor and an entrance door in the centre and two other windows on the ground floor. On the south façade there is a remarkable balcony supported by large

Modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a cornice which it helps to support. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally translated as small teeth). All ...

s on which there are three stone columns supporting the roof. At the end of this façade, the pazo has a tower with several windows and a balcony that was added in the 20th century, as well as a stone

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

. On the façade opening onto the inner garden, the coat of arms of Pontevedra can also be seen. The pazo has 739 square metres of constructed area. The building houses collections of

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, pre-Roman and Roman silverware and Spanish, Italian and Flemish Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque painting from the 15th to the 18th century. Paintings by

Pedro Berruguete Pedro Berruguete (c. 1450 – 1504) was a Spanish painter whose art is regarded as a transitional style between gothic and Renaissance art. Berruguete most famously created paintings of the first few years of the Inquisition and of religious i ...

Juan Correa de Vivar Juan Correa de Vivar (c. 1510 – 16 April 1566) was a Spanish painter. Life Correa was born in Mascaraque; his date of birth has been determined to be around 1510. Records show he grew up wealthy. When Juan was 17 or 18 years old he joined t ...

, Eugenio Cajés and

Juan Pantoja de la Cruz Juan Pantoja de La Cruz (1553 – 26 October 1608) was a Spanish painter, one of the best representatives of the Spanish school of court painters. He worked for Philip II and Philip III. The Museo del Prado contains examples of his severe portr ...

, among others, are on display. After its renovation approved in 2022, the interior spaces will be diaphanous and free of obstacles, leaving only the original

load-bearing wall A load-bearing wall or bearing wall is a wall that is an active structural element of a building, which holds the weight of the elements above it, by conducting its weight to a foundation structure below it. Load-bearing walls are one of the ear ...

s that will give it a unified appearance. The

will also have a wide underground connection with the pazo de García Flórez.

Gallery

File:Balcón no edificio Castro Monteagudo.jpg, Balcony and modillions on the south façade File:Casco vello - panoramio (3).jpg, Tower File:Museo Pontevedra 11036TM.jpg, Arc and bridge added in 1943 File:Museo Pontevedra 11038TM.jpg, Main façade File:Pontevedra-PM 34405.jpg, Façade and balcony File:Torre do edificio Castro Monteagudo.jpg, Tower File:Pontevedra-Museo12 (3268975727).jpg, The pazo at night File:Pontevedra, Museo, Rúa Naranjo, Galicia (Spain).jpg, South façade File:Pontevedra-Tras del museo (4892473854).jpg, North façade File:Pontevedra-Gaviota en el crucero (8548304072).jpg

References

Bibliography

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History

Description

Gallery

References

Bibliography

See also

Related articles

External links