Plaza de Barcelos
42°25′52″N 8°38′26″W / 42.431060°N 8.640536°W / 42.431060; -8.640536
The Plaza de Barcelos is a square dating from the beginning of the 20th century located in the city centre of Pontevedra (Spain), to the east of the historic centre of Pontevedra.
Origin of the name
The square is named after the Portuguese city of Barcelos, with which Pontevedra has been twinned[1] since 1970.[2]
History
In the 19th century, the Pontevedra cattle fair, whose origins date back to the Middle Ages, was held on the site of the current Palm Trees Park. At the end of the 19th century, when the Palace of the Deputation of Pontevedra was built and the Palm Trees Park was created, it was necessary to move the fairground to another location due to the lack of space. After several controversies, the proposal of the builder Manuel Vidal Boullosa was finally accepted in 1896, offering a plot of land (an esplanade) located between the old Progreso Street to the south (now Benito Corbal Street) and the wall of the Convent of Saint Clare to the north, which would become the present-day Plaza de Barcelos.[3] In 1898 the land was bought by the city council of Pontevedra for 40,000 pesetas.[4]
The land was leveled and plane trees were planted for the installation of the fair and was named Campo de la Feria (Fairground), where fairs were held for decades since 1900.[3]
In August 1970, during the festivities of the Pilgrim Virgin, the city was twinned with the Portuguese town of Barcelos.[4]
In 1971 the fairground was renamed Plaza de Barcelos, in reference to the twinning of Pontevedra with this Portuguese city which took place in August 1970. In the 1970s the square was turned into a car park[5] and the street market that was previously held in the Plaza de la Herrería began to be held there.[3][6] The market in which the traders sold their textile and food products was held in the square on the 1st, 8th, 15th and 23rd of each month until 23 September 1988.[4]
Between March and October 1997, the square underwent a complete refurbishment. A large three-storey underground car park was built in the basement and the surface was completely redesigned. The plane trees were cut down and only one row remained on the north side of the square, closest to the wall of St. Clare's Convent.[7]
In January 1998, the Tree Monument, the work of the sculptor José Luis Penado, was installed on the south side of the square to commemorate the many plane trees that were cut down during the construction of the underground car park and the development of the square.[8]
In September 2016, two multi-sports courts were installed in the north of the square next to the convent wall, consisting of a court with baskets and goals and a table for ping-pong.[9]
Description
The square has a square shape and an area of 16,000 square metres. Rouco, Xenaro Pérez de Villamil, Vasco da Ponte, Campo da Feira, San Antoniño and Perfecto Feijóo streets converge here.
The square is laid out as a garden square, with compartmentalized gardens, paved paths, trees, a children's playground, a central area with benches and a stone fountain.[7] The north side of the square is dominated by the large six-metre high wall of the gardens of the convent of St Clare,[10] which is protected as a heritage asset.[11] In the southern centre of the square is the Tree Monument. It represents a large, 6-metre-high iron tree whose branches are topped with the typical crests of the roosters of Barcelos.[8]
In the basement of the square is the largest underground car park in the city, with 906 parking spaces.[12]
On the south side of the square there are cafeterias and on the east, west and south sides there are shops. On the southwest side of the square is also the Barcelos multilingual public school.[13]
Gallery
- Tree monument on the south side of the square
- Trees in the square
- Fountain in the square
- Tree monument
- North side
References
- ^ "Pontevedra apenas rentabiliza sus lazos con otras localidades". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 10 December 2015. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ "Pontevedra refuerza sus lazos fraternales con Barcelos, Portugal". Galicia Press (in Spanish). 19 September 2015. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ a b c "De Las Palmeras a Monte Porreiro". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 28 November 2010. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ a b c "Barcelos, plaza de hermanamiento". Diario de Pontevedra (in Spanish). 29 January 2023.
- ^ "La Audiencia ratifica que la plaza de Barcelos es pública". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 7 November 2017. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ "El cambio de uso de Barcelos como campo de la feria provocó un pleito de reversión". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 28 November 2010. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ a b "La plaza de Barcelos de Calatrava". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 27 August 2020. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ a b "La nueva vida de la plaza de Barcelos". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 21 October 2019. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ "Inician la instalación de las pistas polideportivas en la Praza de Barcelos". Diario de Pontevedra (in Spanish). 1 September 2016.
- ^ "El alcalde se interesa por conectar los jardines de Santa Clara con Barcelos pero afirma que el acuerdo con las clarisas "vai lento"". Pontevedra Viva (in Spanish). 17 July 2020. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ "Pontevedra ya habló oficiosamente con Patrimonio sobre el muro de Santa Clara". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 24 September 2021. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ "Pontevedra es la ciudad gallega con el aparcamiento de pago más barato". Diario de Pontevedra (in Spanish). 21 July 2021. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ "El colegio de Barcelos se suma a otros 17 centros y ya tiene un mural sobre su historia". Pontevedra Viva (in Spanish). 16 October 2021. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
See also
Related articles
- Sainte Clare's Convent
- Calle Benito Corbal
- Ensanche-City Centre
- Palm Trees Park
External links
- Praza de Barcelos on the website Xunta de Galicia Tourism
- v
- t
- e
- Pontevedra City Hall
- Palacio de la Diputación de Pontevedra
- Gobierno Civil de Pontevedra
- Gobierno Militar de Pontevedra
- Pontevedra Normal School Building
- Bank of Spain Building
- Fonseca House
- Administrative Complex of Pontevedra
- Judicial Complex of Pontevedra
- Apparitions Sanctuary
- Basilica of Saint Mary Major
- Church of the Pilgrim Virgin
- Saint Francis Church
- St. Bartholomew's Church
- Saint Clare's Convent
- Our Lady of Placeres Church
- Ruins of San Domingos
- Mosteiro Beneditino de San Bieito de Lérez
- Nazarene Chapel
- Chapel of Saint Roch
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- College of the Society of Jesus in Pontevedra
- Casa de las Campanas
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- Pazo of the Counts of Maceda
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- Casa de las Caras
- Liceo Casino
- Mendoza Mansion
- Mansion of the Marquis of Riestra
- Pazo de Lourizán
- Café Moderno
- Villa Pilar
- Saint Ferdinand Barracks
- Valle-Inclán High School
- Pontevedra Central Post Office
- Gran Garaje Building
- Pontevedra Central Market
- Castelao Building
- Building of the Official Association of Building Engineers and Technical Architects of Pontevedra
- Walls of Pontevedra
- Monument to the heroes of Puente Sampayo
- Valle-Inclán statue
- Tertulia Monument (Literary Circle in Modern Coffee)
- Teucer statue
- The Fiel contraste
- Dorna sculpture
- Ravachol statue
- Fountain of La Herrería
and squares