Pontevedra Normal School Building
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The building of the former Pontevedra Normal School of Pontevedra (Teacher Training College and Arts and Crafts), in
Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...
, 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 and the Palm Trees Park.


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 Galicia (Spain), Galician city of Pontevedra in Spain. It was founded by the Provincial Deputation of Pontevedra on 30 December 1927 and has six buildings for i ...
) 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 school of arts and crafts which eventually housed the provincial teacher training school as well as the provincial high school at different times. In 1895, the project to build the School of Arts and Crafts 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 Joaquín or Joaquin is a male given name, the Spanish version of Joachim. Given name * Joaquín (footballer, born 1956) (Joaquín Alonso González), Spanish football midfielder * Joaquín (footballer, born 1981) (Joaquín Sánchez Rodrígue ...
Calvo (now the Brazilian Embassy in Madrid). In November 1895 Arturo Calvo completed his project. The works were awarded on 1 May 1896 to the Madrid builder García Dios. The building was built opposite the Palace of the Deputation of Pontevedra which had been inaugurated in 1890. The building was completed and inaugurated 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. The building housed the Normal Male Teachers' School at the back and the Normal Female Teachers' School at the front. 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 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 style building with a square ground plan and with three floors and a half basement. Initially the building had two floors and a recessed floor which later became a full third floor. Prior to the construction of the entire third-floor space, the front façade was crowned in the centre by a circular stone pediment with the Spanish coat of arms. The facade has the traditional two-colour scheme of fine reddish and pinkish bricks and granite, including the decorative stone details around the windows and the
pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...
s. It is surrounded by a granite base. 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 building has the peculiarity that all the windows of the four façades are twinned, except for the windows of the central bodies of the front and rear façades. On the first floor of the central body of the rear façade there is a balcony with geometric decoration with four eight-pointed stars instead of balustrades, and on the front façade there is a balcony with five floral motifs. All the windows on the first floor are crowned with geometric decoration in the centre of the
lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...
s.The first-floor balcony door on the front façade is flanked by Ionic
pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...
s and crowned with a stone
coat of arms of Spain A coat is typically an outer clothing, garment for the upper body, worn by any gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front, and closing by means of Button (clothing), buttons, zippers, Hook-and-loo ...
, marking its institutional function. 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


See also


Bibliography

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Related articles

* Gran Vía de Montero Ríos * Pontevedra Bullring * Palace of the Deputation of Pontevedra * Alameda de Pontevedra * Valle-Inclán High School * Mansion of the Marquis of Riestra * Faculty of Education and Sport of Pontevedra


External links


Deputation of Pontevedra administrative building
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontevedra Normal School Building Eclectic architecture Buildings and structures in Pontevedra Educational institutions established in 1845 Government buildings completed in 1901 Education in Pontevedra