 Oliva Street, by night | |
 | |
| Native name | Calle de la Oliva (Spanish) |
|---|---|
| Type | Street |
| Maintained by | Pontevedra City Council |
| Location | Pontevedra, Spain |
| Postal code | 36001 |
| Coordinates | 42°25′48″N8°38′42″W / 42.430111°N 8.645056°W |
The Calle de la Oliva is a street in Pontevedra (Spain) located in the city centre, on the edge of the old town. It is one of the main streets of Pontevedra and one of the most commercial. [1] [2]
The street is called Oliva Street because of the presence of an olive tree on the site where the street originated. [3] [4]
After being designated the provincial capital in 1833, in the mid-19th century Pontevedra improved its road links with other Galician cities. Between 1847 and 1851, Oliva Street and the current Rosalía de Castro Street were built, and their extension in the form of a road linked the city to Marín via Mollavao. [5] [6]
The 1854 project already included the traditional name of Oliva Street. [3] Traders soon moved into the street and Oliva Street soon became a shopping street. A few years after it opened in Michelena Street in 1856, the famous Suárez jeweller's and watchmaker's shop moved to the corner of Oliva Street and Peregrina Square in 1861. [7]
On 25 July 1888, Oliva Street became the first street in Galicia (along with neighbouring Michelena Street) to have public lighting, thanks to the installation of electric arcs and incandescent lamps. This first Galician electricity network was the work of the Marquis of Riestra, who built the first electricity factory in the northwest of the Iberian peninsula in the Verdura square, and who in 1887 obtained a patent for a process for adjusting the dynamos. [8]
Between 1889 and 1890, the writer Concepción Arenal lived on the first floor of Oliva Street 27, where she organised a meeting of intellectuals. [9] [10]
In 1895, the street was called Elduayen and its course went from the Peregrina square to Mollavao. In 1901, the street reverted to its traditional name of Oliva. [3]
In the first decades of the 20th century, the street was home to well-known printers, bookshops and toy shops: the Francisco Viñas bookshop at number 6, the Julio Antúnez bookshop and printing works next door, and the Melero bazaar at number 13. [11] [12]
In 1915, the construction of the new central post office building, located in Oliva Street, began and was completed in 1929. [13] [14]
In 1927, when King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie visited Pontevedra, Oliva Street was already a central street in the city. [15]
In the 1940s, the street became the main promenade for the youth of Pontevedra. In the 1950s, the street underwent significant commercial development and presented a distinct urban image. [16]
In 1961, the first section of the shopping arcades (galerías comerciales) on Oliva Street was inaugurated and in 1965, a second section of the arcades was opened, linking Oliva Street to General Gutiérrez Mellado Street. [17] [18] These shopping arcades, designed by the architect Enrique Barreiro to bring together the different traders and to modernise and revitalise commerce, were of great importance at the time. [19]
In 1981, Oliva Street underwent its most complete renovation and, on 23 December, it became the first pedestrianised street in the city centre. [20]
In 2001, the pedestrian section of the street was again renovated and in 2002, an olive tree like the one that gave the street its name was placed in front of the central post office building. [21]
In 2018, with the opening of a 1700 square metre Gadis supermarket at number 27 of the street where Concepción Arenal lived, the traditional façade of the building has been recovered. [22]
It is a street located in the heart of the city centre, which has a straight course of 175 metres and is essentially flat. Its average width is 8 metres.
It is a central street of the first urban expansion of the city, pedestrianised between the Peregrina square, at the edge of the historic centre of Pontevedra, and García Camba street, [20] with a single lane of traffic and two pavements from García Camba street to St. Joseph square.
Several streets converge on it, from north to south: Galerías de la Oliva, García Camba [23] and Marquis of Riestra. It is one of the main streets in the city centre, with many shops.
One of the ends of Oliva Street coincides with Saint Joseph's Square and, at the corner between the square and the street, there are the remains of the Baroque pazo of the Gago de Mendoza and Montenegro families, which currently has two floors. Its pointed battlements stand out in the upper part, decorated in the centre with six-pointed stars inscribed in a circle. [24]
In the middle of Oliva street, on the corner of García Camba Street, is the central building of the city's post office, the headquarters of the Pontevedra provincial post office. The building belongs to the Art Nouveau style that prevailed in the early years of the 20th century. The main entrance is in the form of a chamfered corner with arches supported by classical columns and stone stairs leading to a raised entrance hall. It is decorated with geometric stonework on the façade, particularly on the upper level, with dormers and geometric windows on each level. The upper level, above the main entrance, is crowned by the stone coat of arms of the city. [25] Inside, the building is built around a central space above a public hall, and the use of materials such as glass, wood and plaster, as well as the coloured glass vault, are particularly noteworthy. [26]
In the street there are several stone houses from the end of the 19th century, such as the one at number 33, with a ground floor for commercial use and one or two floors for residential use, the first with balconies and the second with galleries, a pattern that was repeated in the 19th century in the streets of the city's first urban expansion zone. [27]
At number 30 Oliva Street, on the corner of Marqués de Riestra Street, there is a rationalist building by the architect Emilio Salgado Urtiaga. [28]
The Plaza de Toros de Pontevedra (Spain) is the bullring of the Spanish city of Pontevedra and the only one in the autonomous community of Galicia. It has a capacity of 7,800 spectators and is classified as the second category of Spanish bullring. The current bullring replaced a wooden one dating from 1892, although the tradition of bullfighting in Pontevedra dates back to the 17th century.
The Post and Telecommunications Palace of Pontevedra is a building between Oliva and García Camba streets, in the heart of the commercial and financial centre of Pontevedra, Spain. Since its construction, it has been the main headquarters of Correos in the city and in the province of Pontevedra. In front of its main façade there is an olive tree which gave its name to the Olive Street.
The Bank of Spain building is an eclectic early-20th-century building in the Spanish city of Pontevedra.
The Plaza de Teucro is a square of medieval origin located in the heart of the old town of Pontevedra (Spain). It is the most harmoniously proportioned medieval square in the city.
The Plaza de la Verdura is a square of medieval origin located in the heart of the historic centre of Pontevedra (Spain). It is one of the liveliest medieval squares in the city.
Méndez Núñez Square is a square of medieval origin located in the heart of the historic centre of Pontevedra (Spain).
The Plaza de la Peregrina is an 18th century square located in the city centre of Pontevedra (Spain), on the edge of the historic centre.
The Liceo Casino is a neoclassical building from 1878 located in the historic centre of Pontevedra, which houses the oldest cultural and leisure society in Pontevedra, Spain.
Curros Enríquez Square is a square of medieval origin located in the heart of the historic centre of Pontevedra (Spain), on the Portuguese pilgrimage way.
The Marquis of Riestra's mansion is an eclectic building with art Nouveau elements from the late 19th century located at 30 Michelena Street in Pontevedra, Spain. It currently houses the main central administrative services of the City Council of Pontevedra.
St. Joseph's Square is a 19th century square located in the centre of the city of Pontevedra (Spain), in the first urban expansion area, near the Campolongo neighbourhood.
The calle Benito Corbal is a street in Pontevedra (Spain) located in the first urban expansion area of the city. It is one of the main streets of Pontevedra, known as the "Golden Mile".
The Calle García Camba is a street in Pontevedra (Spain) located in the city centre, in the first urban expansion area. It is one of the main streets of Pontevedra.
The Calle Michelena is a street in Pontevedra (Spain) located in the city centre, on the edge of the old town. It is one of the main streets of Pontevedra and one of the most commercial streets of the city.
Calle Real is a street in the Spanish city of Pontevedra, located in the city's historic centre.
The Calle General Gutiérrez Mellado is a pedestrian street in the Spanish city of Pontevedra, located in the first urban expansion zone. It is one of Pontevedra's main streets.
The Calle Daniel de la Sota is a central street in the Spanish city of Pontevedra, located in the city's first expansion area. It is one of the best-known streets in Pontevedra.
The Marquis of Riestra street is a central street in the Spanish city of Pontevedra, in the first expansion zone of the city in the 19th century, running longitudinally parallel to the Palm Trees Park on its eastern side. It is one of the main streets in Pontevedra city centre.
The Ensanche of Pontevedra is the neighbourhood that forms the centre of the Spanish city of Pontevedra, made up of several successive extensions to the city outside the old town. The term Ensanche means " widening " in Spanish and refers to the expanding areas of Spanish cities towards the end of the 19th century, when the demographic explosion and the industrial revolution led to the demolition of the old city walls and the construction of new areas outside the old fortified walls.
Calle Sarmiento is a street in the Spanish city of Pontevedra, located in the city's historic centre.
