Pontevedra City Hall
Casa Consistorial de Pontevedra
General information
TypeCity Hall
LocationPontevedra, Galicia, Spain
Coordinates42°25′55.3″N 8°38′48.8″W / 42.432028°N 8.646889°W / 42.432028; -8.646889
Construction started1877
Completed1880
Opening1880
OwnerCity Council of Pontevedra
ManagementCity Council of Pontevedra
Technical details
Floor count2
Design and construction
Architect(s)Alejandro Sesmero
Website
pontevedra.gal

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 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[1] 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.[2]

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[3] and the building was inaugurated on 24 August 1880.[4] The new town hall opened onto the Alameda 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 Saint Ferdinand Barracks or the Valle-Inclán High School 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 in 1880.[5]

Rear façade of the town hall

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.[6] · [7] 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 renovated, recovering elements of its original architecture.[8] In 2012 and 2013, more extensive renovations were undertaken.[9] The roof has been restored to its original zinc finish.[10] 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 of the province of Pontevedra, was found.

On 7 July 2022, work began on the complete renovation of the building. A lift has been installed on the left side to improve accessibility and the entrance from Alhóndiga Street has been turned into the main entrance to the ground floor offices.[11] When the building was built in the 19th century, the life of the city took place within the city walls, and the usual access to the City Hall was through Alhóndiga Street.[12] The entrance from the Plaza de España was reserved for institutional events that took place on the first floor[13][14] ( municipal councils, weddings or civil baptisms, speeches, reception of the Three Kings...).[15]

Description

The building belongs to the eclectic style that prevailed at the end of the 19th century with elements and concepts inspired by French architecture. 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 into the city.[16] In fact, as the historian Jesús Ángel Sánchez García discovered, he partially plagiarised the design of the rear façade and interior of a mansion (the hôtel particulier Murat (1850-1864), demolished in 1961, having belonged to Prince Murat and before that to Cécile Furtado-Heine) at number 8 of the former Parisian street of Valois-du-Roule (joined to the street of Monceau in 1868, the mansion was located at number 28) designed by the architects François-Joseph Nolau and Édouard-Emmanuel Convents, adapting it to the required institutional function with the inclusion of the city's coat of arms, the main balcony and the clock at the top.

The building is a balanced ensemble with large Ionic (ground floor) and Corinthian (upper floor) columns that highlight its central part.[17] 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 coat of arms. The columns that frame the entrance are on a large raised pedestal and are crowned by highly decorated Ionic or Roman Corinthian capitals. Sesmero replaces the acanthus with vegetation (leaves, fruit) hanging from the column. The balustrade at the top contains four Kraters at the corners. The intercolumniation of the central body is wide and richly decorated. The columns have fluted shafts. The parapets of all the windows have balustrades.[18]

The interior has a central staircase in the Empire style.[19] The gallery that surrounds the staircase with wide openings, leaded glass windows and the skylight that covers it is particularly noteworthy.[20] After the renovation tendered in 2021, the ground floor from which the staircase starts is a hall and an open-plan space with the offices. 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.[21]

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, the mythical founder of the town.[22]

FVNDOTE TEVCRO VALIENTE
DE AQVESTE RIO EN LA ORILLA
PARA QUE EN ESPAÑA FVESES
DE VILLAS LA MARAVILLA
DEL ZEBEDEO LA ESPADA
CORONA TU GENTILEZA
VN CASTILLO PVENTE Y MAR
ES TIMBRE DE TV NOBLEZA

Teucer, the valiant, founded you
on the banks of this river,
so that of Spain you may be
the most beautiful city,
the sword of Zebedee
crown your kindness;
a castle, a bridge, the sea
which is your proof of nobility.

References

  1. ↑ "La reforma de la Casa Consistorial comenzará antes de acabar el año". Diario de Pontevedra (in Spanish). 8 September 2021.
  2. ↑ "La Casa Consistorial afronta su segunda reforma integral en 129 años de historia". Faro (in Spanish). 29 March 2009.
  3. ↑ "La casa consistorial languidece en espera de la segunda fase de su restauración". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 26 August 2018.
  4. ↑ "La Casa Consistorial cumple 140 años". Diario de Pontevedra (in Spanish). 17 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "Descubren durante la restauración de la Casa Consistorial un lucernario diseñado por Sesmero". Pontevedra Viva (in Spanish). 23 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "La lectura de las entrañas de la Casa Consistorial desvela detalles del pasado del edificio". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 8 September 2021.
  7. ↑ "La reforma de la antigua casa consistorial se licitará en un mes y estará acabada en el 2022". Pontevedra Viva (in Spanish). 8 September 2021.
  8. ↑ "La Casa Consistorial afronta su segunda reforma integral en 129 años de historia". Faro (in Spanish). 29 March 2009.
  9. ↑ "Arranca la rehabilitación de la Casa Consistorial de Pontevedra". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 12 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "Lores quiere "meterlle o dente" a la Casa Consistorial". Diario de Pontevedra (in Spanish). 17 October 2019.
  11. ↑ "La reforma de la Casa Consistorial de Pontevedra recuperará su luz y la hará accesible". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 21 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "Las obras de la Casa Consistorial de Pontevedra revelan elementos ocultos que serán recuperados". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 2 September 2022.
  13. ↑ "La Casa Consistorial de Pontevedra entra en obras". Diario de Pontevedra (in Spanish). 8 July 2022.
  14. ↑ "La casa consistorial de Pontevedra enseña sus costuras". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 2 February 2023.
  15. ↑ "Los pregones y las bodas volverán a la Casa Consistorial". Diario de Pontevedra (in Spanish). 1 February 2023.
  16. ↑ "Sobre nuestra Casa Consistorial". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 16 October 2011.
  17. ↑ "Los 11 edificios que reconoces si eres de Pontevedra". El Español (in Spanish). 28 January 2021.
  18. ↑ Rincón García 1993, p. 305
  19. ↑ "Los 11 edificios que reconoces si eres de Pontevedra". El Español (in Spanish). 28 January 2021.
  20. ↑ Rincón García 1993, p. 305
  21. ↑ "La casa consistorial recuperará su entrada original por la Rúa Alhóndiga". Pontevedra Viva (in Spanish). 25 February 2021.
  22. ↑ "A arquitectura de Pontevedra chega á escola". Diario de Pontevedra (in Galician). 23 September 2021.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Town hall of Pontevedra.

Bibliography

  • Fernández Fernández, Xosé, "Casa do Concello de Pontevedra", in Boletín Académico de la ETSA (Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura), No. 15, La Coruña, 1992.
  • Fontoira Surís, Rafael, 2009. "Pontevedra Monumental". Ed. Deputación de Pontevedra. Pontevedra. ISBN 978-84-8457-327-2.
  • Rincón García, Wifredo, 1993. "Ayuntamientos de España". Espasa-Calpe. Madrid. ISBN 978-8423952793.
  • 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, ISSN 1130-4715, No 13, 2000, pages 361–400.
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