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 Rias Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality which is, in fact, often considered as an extension of the actual city.

The city is best known for its urban planning, pedestrianisation and the charm of its old town. Pontevedra’s car free center helped transform it into one of the most accessible European cities, leading to various European and American studies on its exemplary urban planning been carried out in recent years.

Surrounded by hills, the city is located on the edge of an estuary at the mouth of the Lérez river by the sea, at the end of the Ria de Pontevedra, in the heart of the Rías Baixas. An economic centre and tourist destination, with a population of 83,260 in 2020, it is at the head of an metropolitan area around its Ria of more than 200,000 inhabitants comprising the municipalities of Poio, Marín, Sanxenxo, Bueu, Vilaboa, Cerdedo-Cotobade, Ponte Caldelas, Barro and Soutomaior.

Pontevedra is the second city in Galicia for its rich heritage, only after Santiago de Compostela. A city of art and history, the city is known as The Good City (name attributed by the French author Jean Froissart in his Chronicles in the 14th century) or The City of the Lérez. The city is also an important stopover on the Portuguese Way path of the Camino de Santiago that bears witness to the circular church of the Pilgrim Virgin with a floor plan in the shape of a scallop shell and the scallop shells sculpted in the arches of the medieval Burgo Bridge.

Pontevedra city has an important group of monumental buildings, including the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (16th century) with its plateresque Renaissance façade, the Baroque Church of the Pilgrim Virgin (18th century) with its rounded façade, the ruins of the Gothic Convent of San Domingo (13th century), the Gothic Church of San Francisco (13th century), the Baroque Church of San Bartholomew (end of the 17th century) and the Gothic Convent of Santa Clare (14th century). Its old town contains numerous coat of arms houses (the 15th century House of the Bells or the 18th century García Flórez Palace), mansions – the Mendoza Mansion, Villa Pilar – as well as old palaces such as the 18th century Mugartegui Palace, which is now the headquarters of the Rias Baixas Wine Regulatory Council, or the Counts of Maceda Palace, which is now the National Tourism Parador. Another major symbol of the city is the Ravachol Parrot, whose statue is in the city centre. The city also has a marina close to its historic centre. At present, Pontevedra is a city in full revival. It has become the flagship city of the network of cities that walk and one of the cities in the world where children live best, known as The City of Children.

Pontevedra is an important administrative centre. The city is marked by a strong presence of administrative and justice services. Pontevedra is the seat of the Provincial Deputation (equivalent to the General Provincial Council), the prefecture (Subdelegación del Gobierno) of the province of Pontevedra as well as the Palace of Justice and the provincial district court (Audiencia Provincial), the provincial police station and the provincial administrative offices.

Landmarks

Thanks to a remarkable old town, the surrounding landscape and its former medieval port Pontevedra has been defined as a “charming city”^[39] and “an authentic Galician city”. Tourist attractions include many religious and civil buildings as well as picturesque medieval squares.

Religious heritage

• Baroque church of the Pilgrim Virgin. The major symbol of the city, it is on the Place of the Pilgrim Virgin. Built on a semi-circular scallop plan, it is the only rounded scallop-shaped church in Spain.
• Gothic-Renaissance Basilica of St. Mary Major. Built by the powerful sailors guild. It has a remarkable flattened facade.

Renaissance Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Pontevedra)

• Convent and church of San Francisco, Pontevedra. Gothic church of St. Francis overlooking the Herrería Square. It is one of the mendicant-style churches in Galicia. Its plan is a Latin cross, with a single nave and a chevet with three polygonal apses. The church houses the tomb of the admiral and poet Payo Gómez Chariño, which dates from the 13th century.
• Ruins of the Gothic church of St. Dominic, having belonged to the Dominican order, only the chevet with five polygonal chapels remains. Today they belong to the Pontevedra Museum.

Gothic Santo Domingo Church

• Baroque church of St. Bartholomew (Italian baroque).

Baroque San Bartolomé church

• Convent and Romanesque-Gothic church of St. Clare.
• Apparitions Sanctuary. Where the Virgin of Fatima appeared at Sister Mary Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Fatima.
• Chapel of the Nazareno (S.XIV)
• Chapel of Souls (Neo-Gothic, S.XIX).
• Chapel of Saint-Roch.
• Saint-Francis Convent.
• Monastery of Saint-Saviour of Lérez, a Baroque reanimation on a picturesque site. This former Benedictine monastery has a church (from the 18th century) whose facade is flanked by two towers. Adjacent to the church is one of the galleries of the former Renaissance cloister of the 16th century.

Church of San Francis Monastery

• Our Lady of Placeres church built at the end of the 19th century in Neo-Gothic style.
• College of the Society of Jesus in Pontevedra, 1714, Italian baroque architecture.
• Monastery of St. John of Poio.

Civil Heritage

• House of the Bells, Gothic, from the 15th century, with a heron in the coat of arms, Don Filiberto Street.

Gothic Bells House

• House of the Vaamonde, Renaissance, Amargura street, 16th century.
• Old Mail House, late Gothic, in García de la Riega Square.
• Remnants of the medieval ramparts.12th–15th century.
• Counts of Maceda Palace or Barón Palace, Renaissance building from the 16th century, with a crenellated tower, now converted into a National Tourism Parador.

Pazo of the Counts of Maceda, national parador of tourism

• Palace of the Gago and Montenegro (16th century), in the square of Teucer, with a magnificent coat of arms in granite.
• House of Heads, with Renaissance busts on the facade, on the Estrella Square.
• Mugartegui Palace, baroque, from the 18th century, on Mugartegui Square or the Quarry Square.

Baroque Mugartegui Palace

• Pazo de Castro Monteagudo, baroque (1760).
• Pazo de García Flórez, baroque, from the 18th century, Sarmiento street, with a magnificent granite coat of arms.
• Palace of the Marquis of Aranda, baroque, from the 18th century to the crenellated tower at the corner of the square of Teucer.

Pontevedra City Hall, 19th century

• House of the Barbeito and Padrón, baroque with Renaissance busts on the façade, from the 18th century, Real Street.
• Principal Theatre of Pontevedra, neoclassical.
• Pontevedra City Hall, 19th century of Parisian inspiration.
• The Palace of the Provincial Council of the 19th century, eclectic.
• Mansion house of the Mendozas, eclectic, on the Saint-Mary avenue, (end of the 19th century).
• Lourizán Palace (art nouveau), (end of the 19th century).
• Faculty of Fine Arts (former San Fernando barracks), end of the 19th century
• Pontevedra former training teacher college building, eclectic, end of 19th century
• Pontevedra bullring (1900)
• Bank of Spain, Michelena street, eclectic, 1903.
• Fonseca House, neoclassical, on Paseo of Colón. Its facade is inspired by the church of the Paris Madeleine, (end of the 19th century).
• Valle-Inclán High School (art nouveau), beginning of the 20th century on Gran Vía de Montero Ríos.
• Central Post Office building (art nouveau), beginning of the 20th century, Olive street.
• Modern Coffee (art nouveau), on San José square.
• Villa Pilar private mansion (art nouveau), Riestra street.
• Gran Garaje Building, art nouveau, (1915).
• Pontevedra Provincial Savings Bank (1944).
• Pontevedra Central Market (1948).
• Municipal Sports Pavilion of Pontevedra (1965) by Alejandro de la Sota.
• Congres Hall Palace (1997) by Manuel de las Casas.
• Pontevedra Exhibition Centre (1998) by Manuel de las Casas.
• Faculty of Education and Sport (2006), an example of architecture in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art of New York (MOMA) in 2006. The design of the faculty, by Jesús Irisarri Castro and Guadalupe Piñera, won the SICE prize in 2008, awarded by the Spanish Superior Council of Architects.
• The twin-tower building of the Galician Government (2008) by the architect Manuel Gallego Jorreto.
• Sixth or Castelao Building of the Pontevedra Museum (2013), a great building of contemporary architecture, by the architects Eduardo Pesquera and Jesús Ulargui.
• New Courts (2019). The façade of the building is designed with curved bevelled surfaces and serial openings.

Monuments

• Monument to the heroes of Puente Sampayo, in the Plaza de España, beginning of the 20th century
• Valle-Inclán statue, beginning of the 21st century
• Tertulia Monument (Literary Circle in Modern Coffee), on San José square, beginning of the 21st century
• Teucer statue, on San José square, beginning of the 21st century
• The Fiel contraste, in Alhóndiga street, beginning of the 21st century
• Ravachol statue, beginning of the 21st century
• Dorna, beginning of the 21st century