Pontevedra Museum facts for kids
| Museo de Pontevedra | |
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The Fernández López Building extension (2002)
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| Former name | Pontevedra Provincial Museum |
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| Established | 30 December 1927 |
| Location | Pontevedra, Spain |
| Type | Art museum, Archaeology museum, Ethnographic museum |
| Visitors | 188,600 (2023) |
| Owner | Provincial Deputation of Pontevedra |
The Pontevedra Museum is a famous museum in the city of Pontevedra, Spain. It was started on December 30, 1927. The museum has many different collections. You can see paintings, sculptures, and old objects. It also shows decorative arts, engravings, and items about local culture.
The museum is very important. It was named a "Cultural Interest Property" in 1962. In 1996, it won the Gold Medal of Galicia.
History of the Museum
The Pontevedra Museum first opened its doors on August 10, 1929. It began in a historic building called the Castro Monteagudo pazo (a traditional Galician manor house).
Today, the museum uses six buildings. Five of these are old, historic buildings. The sixth one is a large, modern building. This new building opened in 2013. The museum's buildings include the ruins of the San Domingo Church. They also include the García Flórez, Fernández López, Sarmiento, and Castro Monteagudo buildings. The newest one is called the Castelao Building.
In 2022, over 175,000 people visited the museum.
Who Manages the Museum?
The museum has had six directors since it started. They are:
- 1927–1937: Casto Sampedro Folgar
- 1937–1940: Gerardo Álvarez Limeses
- 1940–1986: Xosé Filgueira Valverde
- 1986–2018: José Carlos Valle Pérez
- 2019–2022: José Manuel Rey García
- 2023: Ángeles Tilve Jar
The Museum Buildings
The Pontevedra Museum is spread across six different buildings. Each building has its own unique history and collections.
Castro Monteagudo Building
This building was built in 1760. It was named after José de Castro y Monteagudo. He was an important official in Pontevedra. This was the first building of the museum.
It used to show ancient objects and old gold jewelry. It also had silver items and paintings. The museum is currently updating what is on display here.
Silverware Collection
The Castro Monteagudo building has a special collection of silverware. These pieces were collected by Gonzalo Fernández de la Mora y Mon. Most of the items are from before 1900. They come from Spain, Latin America, Russia, and China.
One very old piece is a baptismal cup from the 15th or 16th century. A historically interesting item is a box from 1600. The most valuable piece is a large soup bowl from the 1800s. There is also a trophy jar from 1898. It has gold coins with pictures of three emperors.
García Flórez Building
This building is named after Antonio García Estévez Fariña and his wife. They built this grand house in the 1700s. It became part of the museum in 1943.
Inside, you can see old furniture and tools for sailing. There is even a part of a ship's cabin. The building also displays religious statues and pottery. You can see a traditional Galician kitchen. There are also engravings, Sargadelos pottery, and jet objects.
Fernández López Building
This building was finished in 1965. It is named after José Fernández López, who gave a lot of money to the museum. Here, you can see many romantic and historical paintings. There are special rooms for famous artists like Francisco Goya and Joaquín Sorolla.
This building also holds the museum's offices. It has a large library and a huge collection of photos and documents.
Building Extension
In the early 2000s, the Fernández López building got bigger. A new part was added in 2002. This new section is 1,200 square meters. It mixes old and new building styles. It is used for offices and rooms for researchers. This extension won an award in 2003.
Museum Library
The museum's library started with just 108 books. By 2007, it had over 150,000 books and documents. It also has many maps and plans. This library is for researchers. It is also open to the public for reading, but you cannot borrow books. The library helps with scientific research.
Ruins of St. Dominic's Convent
This is the oldest part of the museum. It is what is left of a convent built in the 1300s and 1400s. The convent was left empty in 1834. Only the main chapel and some side chapels remain.
Besides the church ruins, you can see many old items. These include coats of arms, tombstones, and old stone carvings. There are also statues and parts of columns from ancient times.
Sarmiento Building
This building used to be a Jesuit college. It is a beautiful Baroque style building. It was built between 1695 and 1714. It became part of the museum in 1979.
After a big renovation, it opened to the public in 2013. It now holds ancient objects and medieval Galician art. You can see special gold necklaces called Torcs. These are from the Bronze Age. There are also Galician ceramics on display. Some rooms are about the city of Pontevedra and the Pilgrim Virgin.
In a secure room, you can see the treasure of Caldas de Reis. This amazing gold treasure was found in 1940. It is the most important gold treasure in Spain. It is also one of the most important in all of Europe.
Castelao Building
This is the newest building of the museum. It was built between 2004 and 2008. It adds 10,000 square meters for exhibitions and workshops. This sixth building opened on January 4, 2013. It is located behind the Saint Bartholomew's Church.
The building has four floors for exhibitions. The ground floor is for temporary shows. The upper floors show the museum's permanent collections. There are 23 rooms in total. You can see Galician art from different time periods. There are also works by other Spanish and foreign artists.
The first floor shows Galician art from the Gothic period to the late 1800s. You can see sculptures and old religious items. There are paintings and sculptures by famous artists like Francisco Goya.
The second floor displays art from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. You can see works by Ovidio Murguía and others. There are also two special rooms for Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao. He was a very important Galician artist. The museum has his most famous works, including the original "Nós" album.
The third floor features Galician artists from the 20th and 21st centuries.
In the basement, there are workshops for restoring art. There is also a large auditorium and a cafeteria. You can even see parts of the old Pontevedra city walls here.
Santa Clara Building
In 2021, the City Council of Pontevedra bought the Saint Clare's Convent. This old convent will become the museum's seventh building. It will be fully restored and added to the museum complex.
Museum Publications
The museum publishes an annual magazine called El Museo de Pontevedra. It started in 1942. The museum also publishes special books about its exhibitions.
Cool Exhibitions
From August to October 2022, the museum had a special exhibition. It showed about 75 traditional folk costumes and crafts from Galicia. These were inspired by photos taken by an American photographer, Ruth Matilda Anderson. She took these pictures between 1924 and 1926.
The exhibition showed traditional clothes on mannequins. It also displayed items from daily life. Some costumes were recreated to look exactly like those in Anderson's old photos. The pictures showed things like milkmaids in Santiago de Compostela. They also showed women carrying ceramic pots to market. Craftsmen selling wooden clogs and people in traditional raincoats were also featured. More than 14,000 people visited this exhibition. It was the most popular event at the museum in five years!
See also
- Ruins of Santo Domingo
- List of museums in Spain
- Pazo de Castro Monteagudo
- Pazo de García Flórez
- College of the Society of Jesus in Pontevedra
- Castelao Building
- Old town of Pontevedra
- Archiepiscopal Towers Interpretation Centre
