The building of the former Pontevedra Normal School of Pontevedra (Teacher Training College and Arts and Crafts), 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 whi ...

, Spain, is an eclectic building from the end of the 19th century that was the headquarters of the teacher training college of this Galician city. It is located on the Gran Vía de Montero Ríos, 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, Galicia, Spain. Created in 1879, it is t ...

and the

Palm Trees Park The Palm Trees Park, also known simply as ''Las Palmeras'', is a public park in the heart of Pontevedra in Spain. It is the most representative and emblematic green space in the city centre, together with the Alameda de Pontevedra. History T ...

History

Until the end of the 19th century, the women's teacher training school was located in Pontevedra in the baroque pazo of the García Flórez family (today owned by 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. ...

) and the men's teacher training school was located in the Pazo of Mugartegui, or pazo of the Counts of Fefiñáns. In the 1880s, the Pontevedra City Council acquired the property of the Munaiz family located on the Gran Vía Avenue, a building plot on an avenue that had been laid out ten years earlier. It was decided to build a new building for a mixed teacher training school. In 1895, the project to build the Normal Institute of Teachers and Arts and Crafts (popularly known as the

Normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...

) was launched. The work was entrusted to the architect of the Ministry of Development (Fomento) Arturo Calvo Tomelén, who had designed buildings such as the Palace of Joaquín Sánchez de Toca Calvo (now the Brazilian Embassy in Madrid). In November 1895 Arturo Calvo completed his project and work began. The building was inaugurated 4 years later, in 1899, opposite the Palace of the Deputation of Pontevedra which had been inaugurated in 1890. The official reception of the building took place in 1901. The total cost of the project was over 260,000 pesetas. In 1903 the building was used as the Provincial High School of Pontevedra, to put an end to the numerous expenses incurred by the repairs of the old Jesuit College. Over the years, its function changed and it temporarily became the city's women's high school in the late 1960s. From the 1970s onwards it was the seat of the provincial education office. With the transfer of the Provincial Education Office to Campolongo in 2008 to the new building in the twin towers of the

Galician Government The Xunta de Galicia (; "Regional Government of Galicia") is the collective decision-making body of the government of the autonomous community of Galicia, composed of the President, the Vice-President(s) and the specialized ministers (''Consell ...

, the building lost its function as the Provincial Education Office and was handed over to the Pontevedra Provincial Council, which renovated it inside. It was inaugurated as the administrative building of the Provincial Council of Pontevedra on 11 February 2011.

Description

It is a large

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

style building with three floors and a half basement. Initially the building had two floors and a recessed floor which later became a full third floor. The facade has the traditional two-colour scheme of fine reddish and pinkish bricks and granite, including the decorative stone details around the windows. It is surrounded by a granite base. The façade was originally crowned by an arch which disappeared when the third floor was rebuilt. The bricks, which were very fashionable at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century on the façades, came from the old brick factory of La Barca, very close to A Caeira. They can also be found on the façade of the Pontevedra bullring. The interior of the building was successively remodelled to adapt the facilities to different uses, first educational, then administrative.

Gallery

File:Pontevedra capital Edificio Administrativo Diputación Pontevedra.jpg, Main façade File:Pontevedra Capital Edificio modernista de la Antigua Delegación de Educación.jpg, Main façade File:La alameda-pontevedra - panoramio (3).jpg, East side façade File:Escudo heraldico - panoramio (94).jpg, Coat of arms File:Escuela Normal Pontevedra Capital - Fachada este 2.jpg, East façade File:Escuela Normal Pontevedra Capital - Fachada trasera.jpg, Rear façade File:Escuela Normal Pontevedra Capital - Fachada oeste.jpg, West façade File:Escuela Normal Pontevedra Capital - Fachada Principal.jpg, Main façade File:Escuela Normal Pontevedra Capital - Fachada principal Detalle.jpg, Entrance

References

Bibliography

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External links