The

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 ...

City Hall in

, Spain, is the seat of the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of this Galician city. It is located at the eastern end of 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, Galicia, Spain. Created in 1879, it is t ...

, on the edge of the old town. To the west it opens onto the pedestrian España Square.

History

In 1875, the idea of building a new headquarters for the Town Hall was born, located on the land occupied by the ''Bastida Grande'', a bastion of the Pontevedra walls next to the Saint Dominic's gateway, which was also used as the town hall since 1595 and whose facade opened onto the old town. In 1876 it was decided to demolish the old building and the Pontevedra City Council approved the plans presented by the architect Alejandro Sesmero. During the work, the Town Hall was moved to the Casa del Barón, the palace of the Counts of Maceda. The foundation stone of the building was laid on 10 October 1877 and the work continued until the last stone was laid on 25 July 1879. The work was completely finished on 3 August 1880 and the building was inaugurated on 24 August 1880. The new town hall opened onto the

Alameda An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada *Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan **Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile ...

and the new middle-class neighbourhood created by the demolition of the city walls in 1855. The construction of other large buildings such as the Provincial Council Palace (Pontevedra Provincial Council), also by Sesmero, the Faculty of Fine Arts or the

Valle-Inclán High School The Valle-Inclán High School is a large eclectic and Art Nouveau building located in the city centre of Pontevedra, Spain. It is named after the writer Valle-Inclán who studied and lived in Pontevedra. Today it is the seat of the Valle-Incl� ...

around the Alameda made this area the great leisure space for the city's bourgeoisie. This work led to the architect being awarded the Cross of the Royal

Order of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III ( es, Real y Distinguida Orden Española de Carlos III, originally es, Real y Muy Distinguida Orden de Carlos III) was establ ...

in 1880.

Pontevedra_-_Casa_Consistorial_(Ayuntamiento)_4

In 1944, a half-basement was built to extend the building as well as an imperial staircase overlooking the building's courtyard, slightly raising the ground floor level. The original cast-iron staircase had a cast-iron banister and two flights that were unified in a central landing. In 2009, the building was completely renovated, recovering elements of its original architecture. In 2012 and 2013, more extensive renovations were undertaken. The roof has been restored to its original

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

finish. During this renovation work, the original iron skylight of the building, which in 1953 had been hidden behind a Stained glass window with 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 ...

of the

province of Pontevedra Pontevedra is a province of Spain along the country's Atlantic coast in southwestern Europe. The province forms the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, and Ourense, ...

, was found.

Description

The building belongs to the

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 ...

that prevailed at the end of the 19th century with elements and concepts inspired by

French architecture French architecture consists of numerous architectural styles that either originated in France or elsewhere and were developed within the territories of France. History Gallo-Roman The architecture of Ancient Rome at first adopted the ext ...

. The Town Hall was one of Alejandro Sesmero's first major projects, setting many of the guidelines for what would be his style, an eclecticism with a French flavour, giving the severity required by a public building, while its refined decoration underlines the building's political-administrative significance. Sesmero inserted a small Parisian palace in the

Second Empire style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as i ...

into the city. In fact, as the historian Jesús Ángel Sánchez García discovered, he partially plagiarised the design of the rear façade and interior of a mansion at number 8 of the former Parisian street of Valois-du-Roule (joined to the street of Monceau in 1868) designed by the architects F.-J. Nolau and Convents, adapting it to the required institutional function with the inclusion of the city's

, the main balcony and the clock at the top. The building is a balanced ensemble with large Ionic (ground floor) and

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

(upper floor) columns that highlight its central part. The entrance door has a semicircular arch decorated with a crown of oak leaves, symbolising strength, and the windows are decorated with the city's

. The columns that frame the entrance are on a large raised

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

and are crowned by highly decorated Ionic or Roman

capitals. Sesmero replaces the acanthus with vegetation (leaves, fruit) hanging from the column. The balustrade at the top contains four

Krater A krater or crater ( grc-gre, , ''kratēr'', literally "mixing vessel") was a large two-handled shape of vase in Ancient Greek pottery and metalwork, mostly used for the mixing of wine with water. Form and function At a Greek symposium, krat ...

s at the corners. The interior has a central staircase in the

Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 durin ...

. After the renovation tendered in 2021, the ground floor from which the staircase starts is a hall and an open-plan space. The upper floor, or main floor, consists of a meeting room occupying the entire length of the façade of the Plaza de España, and a room for institutional receptions, an office for the mayor and other auxiliary spaces overlooking the Alhóndiga street, as well as an interior space designed as a waiting room. The semi-basement is used for multi-purpose rooms. The entrance on Alhóndiga Street is also being refurbished as the main entrance to the building. On the façade of the city hall there is a 16th century inscription from the old town hall on the legend of the Greek archer

Teucer In Greek mythology, Teucer (), also Teucrus, Teucros or Teucris ( grc, Τεῦκρος, Teûkros), was the son of King Telamon of Salamis Island and his second wife Hesione, daughter of King Laomedon of Troy. He fought alongside his half-bro ...

, the mythical founder of the town.

Gallery

File:Casa do concello Pontevedra.jpg, Pontevedra City Hall File:Pontevedra, 08.jpg, Main façade balcony and Corinthian columns File:Pontevedra 60-11a, Casa do Concello.jpg, Corinthian capitals File:Pontevedra - Casa Consistorial (Ayuntamiento) 3.jpg, Clock on top of the façade File:Concello de Pontevedra (12053504444).jpg, Main facade File:Pontevedra 60-12a, Casa do Concello.jpg, Base of the columns of the main façade. File:Pontevedra 57-01a, Casa do Concello.jpg, Inscription on the façade File:Pontevedra 57-01c, Casa do Concello.jpg, Inscription on the façade (continued). File:ConcelloPontevedra2018.png, City Hall in 2018. File:Fiel Contraste.jpg, The Fiel Contraste behind the town hall. File:Pontevedra - Casa Consistorial (Ayuntamiento) 2.jpg, Central part of the façade File:Casa consistorial de la ciudad de Pontevedra.JPG, Façade opening onto the Place of Spain File:Casa consistorial de Pontevedra Nadal.jpg, City Hall at Christmas. File:Casa Consistorial, Pontevedra (2015).JPG, City Hall in 2015

References

Bibliography

* Fernández Fernández, Xosé, "Casa do Concello de Pontevedra", in Boletín Académico de la ETSA (Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura), , La Coruña, 1992. * Fontoira Surís, Rafael, 2009. "Pontevedra Monumental". Ed. Deputación de Pontevedra. Pontevedra. . * Rincón García, Wifredo, 1993. "Ayuntamientos de España". Espasa-Calpe. Madrid. . * Sánchez García, Jesús Ángel: La recepción de modelos franceses en la Arquitectura ecléctica: Alejandro Rodríguez-Sesmero y el proyecto del Ayuntamiento de Pontevedra (1876). Espacio, tiempo y forma. Serie VII, Historia del arte, , No 13, 2000, pages 361–400.

History

Description

Gallery

References

Bibliography

See also

Related articles

External links