Convent and church of Saint Francis, Pontevedra facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Convento e Iglesia de San Francisco
Native name Galician: Convento e Igrexa de San Francisco
Seen from Praza da Ferraría
Location	Pontevedra, Spain
Built	1310–1360
Architectural style(s)	Gothic architecture

Spanish Property of Cultural Interest
Official name: Convento e Igrexa de San Francisco
Type	Non-movable
Criteria	Monument
Designated	1896
Reference no.	RI-51-0000074

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The Convent of St. Francis is a very old building in the city of Pontevedra, Spain. It's a convent where Franciscan friars live. You can find it right in the city center, looking over the Plaza de la Herrería. The beautiful Gothic church of San Francis is connected to the convent on its southeast side.

History of the Convent
What the Convent Looks Like
- The Church of St. Francis
- The Convent Building
Culture and Community
Images for kids
Gallery
See also
- Related articles

History of the Convent

According to old stories, Francis of Assisi himself founded this convent. He supposedly stopped in Pontevedra while traveling on the Portuguese Way to Santiago de Compostela. The Franciscan order likely arrived in the city around the late 1200s.

Building the Convent

The main building was constructed between 1310 and 1360. Rich families, like the heirs of Paio Gomez Charino, helped pay for it. The convent was built where an old Templar house and church used to be. This land belonged to the noble Soutomaior family. It was also near the walls of Pontevedra, using some old towers. One of these towers still has parts from the Middle Ages, possibly from the 1000s. At that time, the convent was just outside the city walls.

The Dominican Order, another group of friars in the city, finished their church ten years earlier. They were quite impressed by how grand the Franciscan convent was. So, in 1380, they decided to build an even bigger church with five apses.

A Time of Great Building

In 1362, work began on the apse of the Poor Clares church in the city. It was similar to St. Francis's, but smaller. The parish church of St Bartholomew the Elder was also made bigger between 1337 and 1339. Many wealthy families gave money for these big building projects. They were worried about dying from the Black Death, a terrible illness spreading across Europe at the time.

Later, in the late 1700s, Archbishop Malvar paid for an expansion. This replaced the convent's old medieval cloister and added the church tower.

The Convent as a Refuge

Because of its good location, the convent was used as a safe place and a fortress many times. In 1809, during the Peninsular War, French soldiers hid inside. They were trying to defend themselves from the people of Pontevedra. The people surrounded them and made them give up on February 28. On March 24, 1823, during the Trienio Liberal, a group of liberals also used it to fight against another political group.

Changes Over Time

In 1835, after a law called the Spanish confiscation by Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, the convent became empty. It then belonged to the city. However, the Venerable Third Order kept the church open for worship. The convent building itself became the home of the civil governor and the local government office.

From 1836 to 1890, it also housed the offices of the Provincial Council. This group later moved to the current Provincial Palace. In 1840, troops from Vigo tried to take away Pontevedra's status as a provincial capital. The people of Pontevedra defended their city from the St. Francis convent.

In 1853, the steps leading up to the church were built. In 1885, there was a plan to open a tobacco factory in the building, but it was not approved. By 1891, the convent became the main office for the state Treasury Department.

In the early 1900s, the city's fire station was in a building behind the convent. In 1900, an architect named Arturo Calvo Tomelén worked on the back of the church. He uncovered old windows in the apse and a rose window in the transept. On January 15, 1909, Father Luis María Fernández Espinosa and five other friars returned to the convent. They rented it for 250 pesetas a year for twenty-five years. In 1930, the church was officially given to them. From 1932, the convent building was used only by the Ministry of Finance.

Sadly, on the night of June 17, 1995, the church caught fire. It was repaired soon after and reopened on October 5, 1996. The convent continued to house the Provincial Treasury until 2010, when it moved to the Campolongo area.

What the Convent Looks Like

The Church of St. Francis

The church is built in a style called late Gothic. This style is also known as ogival. It was declared a historical and artistic monument in 1896. It looks like churches built by mendicant orders. It has a Latin cross plan, with one main nave. The crossing has a wooden roof. The back part, called the chevet, has three polygonal apses with ribbed vaults.

The central nave is 100 meters long and 10 meters wide. It is the tallest nave of all the Franciscan churches in Galicia. Inside the church, you can find the sarcophagi (stone coffins) of important people like Paio Gomez Charino, Juan Feijóo de Soutomaior, and Pelayo de Montenegro.

The church has several chapels dedicated to different saints or events. These include chapels for the Sorrows or Annunciation (from 1590), the Good Success or Sacred Heart (from 1670), the Third Order, the Immaculate Conception and Mercy (from 1677), St. Anthony, and St. Elizabeth or the Visitation. Near the entrance, on the Epistle side, there is a wall painting from around 1500. It shows the Mass of St Gregory.

Outside, the main entrance has a pointed arch with decorative moulded Archivolts.

The beautiful Stained glass windows in the church tell stories important to the Franciscan friars. In the main chapel, you can see Christ and Mary in the center, shown as the Ecce homo and our Lady of Sorrows. To their right are St. Matthew, St. John, St. Peter, and St. Francis. To their left are St. Anthony of Padua, St. Paul, St. Mark, and St. Luke. This arrangement highlights Jesus and Mary. On each side, there are two Franciscan saints (Francis and Anthony of Padua). Then come the apostles (Peter and Paul), and finally, the four Evangelists.

The Convent Building

The convent was rebuilt in the 1700s in the Baroque style. The construction finished in 1800. When the walls of Pontevedra were taken down, the St. Dominic's Gate or City Gate was added to the convent's main entrance.

It is a simple but large building with three floors and a stone base. The doors and windows are plain and have flat tops. Above the central window on the main balcony, there is a small triangular decoration. Above that, you can see a stone coat of arms from Pontevedra.

The convent has a rectangular shape. It has a cloister (an enclosed courtyard) on the southeast side. There are also two other courtyards of different sizes on the northwest side. The outside of the building has many tall, matching windows. The main front has balconies, and a large balcony is above the entrance door. You can enter the church through a door on the left side of the transept. The entire building is 100 meters long, 30 meters wide, and 24 meters high.

The cloister has a square shape and a central transept. It is simpler than the Gothic cloister it replaced in the 1700s. However, it has some decorative plaques. On the left side of the church, there are doors that connect the church to the cloister. This cloister then leads to the living areas of the Franciscan friars.

Inside the Baroque convent, there were three main rooms. These were used as the dining room, the prayer area, and the meeting space for the monks.

Culture and Community

Today, four Franciscan friars live in the convent. The convent is also home to the St. Francis community kitchen. This kitchen provides meals for people in need from Monday to Saturday.

Centuries ago, some of Pontevedra's most important noble families chose the church as their burial place. These included the Sarmiento and Mariño de Lobeira families.