The rich historical heritage of Pontevedra is second only to Santiago Compostela’s reputation as a historic town on the Camino. We appreciated our travel consultant arranging an extra night in the city. And we lost no time walking around to experience the fascinating mix of contemporary urban and medieval architecture. What made this an extraordinary experience was the thoughtfulness of urban planning.
In Vigo, another hill city like Pontevedra, the waterfront makes up the old city. Contemporary improvements were made in the hilly areas: a half-a-mile pedestrian mall fronted by high-end shops and; a plaza with modern sculpture. At the foot of the old city, they installed on what must have been Grand Avenue, a mile-long escalator as a median lane. It travels up a steep hill. A hapless pedestrian, with an arm-load of purchase, can hop on it at any point where the avenue intersects, and be self-propelled to the shops at the top of the hill! Big cities encourage inequities. In Vigo, we saw our first beggar after ten days on the Camino. In Pontevedra, a town older and smaller than Vigo, we saw our first dumpster diver. These images of inequities do not match San Francisco’s. There’s much good to say about EU social policies that minimize poverty.
The old part of Pontevedra sits on a slight hill at the edge of a river. The national highway separates the older part from vehicular traffic. The streets in between these two areas have been “pedestrianized”, the EU term for car-free zones. Or, to put it another way, pedestrian-friendly zones. Its residents and tourist alike can crisscross these streets freely. The civic center where the government offices are also pedestrianized, with a wide mall with buildings on one side and a park on the other. The mall leads to the water’s edge, which is marked by a gigantic cross. From here, one has a view of the river. We wondered where the cars went. They had built a parking lot under the mall with steps and elevators to take people down to their vehicles. The effect is an unparalleled 360-degree view of the mall with restaurants, ancient ruins, government buildings, and a lovely park. The children especially were safe from cars with this arrangement. Throughout our walk, we noted that only a handful of towns had children playing and running about. According to a Google search, Pontevedra has won many awards for its urban planning. We couldn’t agree more. It has earned the title The City of Children.
The main drag, Via Virgen Peregrina, if it may be called, leads to the church of the Virgin Pilgrim, an 18th c. baroque structure. Its floor plan, they say, outlines the shape of the pilgrim’s iconic cockle shell.
Our hotel was a mere 10-minute walk on car-free streets. Colorful food and dry goods shops along the Via de Peregrina attract an incessant flow of pedestrians. Pat caught this photo (also asking permission from the shop owner) of an array of colorful spices on display. Buy in bulk.
Avid museum lovers, we couldn’t pass up the Pontevedra museum, and that is when we eventually located it. We see the history of Galicia through its collections of pre-historic archeology to modern culture. A fascinating place, given that they have built an entire contemporary museum inside an old building. They have built (attached is a better term) an entire four-floor wing in glass and outfitted it with modern conveniences.
Their exhibit of Galician costumes that represented all walks of life was a lesson in Galician history.
There was much to see, but there was very limited time. Ponteverdra warranted at some other time another visit in the future. Tomorrow, we must put on the pilgrim’s hat once more. Santiago de Compostela is just four days away.