Monte Porreiro is a residential area in the city of Pontevedra (Spain). It is the seat of the National University of Distance Education in the province of Pontevedra. The neighbourhood has a health centre, a school and a high school and a parish church since the end of the 20th century, its patron saint being the Good Shepherd. There are also green areas, the most important being the Belvedere Park.
Monte Porreiro is a district located in the north-east of the city. It is bordered to the north and west by the Lérez River, to the east by the Mourente district and to the south by the A Seca district.
Etymology
The name Monte Porreiro has its origin in the steepness of the terrain of the area. Porreiro comes from porro-porrera meaning abundant slopes and the name of the neighbourhood Monte Porreiro refers to a "mountain with steep slopes".[1]
History
At the beginning of the 20th century, in 1900, Casimiro Gómez, a wealthy landowner, bought a 70-hectare estate in Monte Porreiro, the former farmhouse of San Antonio Abad, which he called Villa Buenos Aires.[2] He called it this because of his close connection with Argentina, where he had made his fortune.[3] He turned it into a beautiful and rich farm where he spent his holidays. He grew vines and fruit trees, reserving a large area of land for livestock. The products of the estate received important prizes in various exhibitions.
To make the most of the richness of the medicinal mineral springs in the area, he carried out a project to create a thermal spa.[4] The high society of Pontevedra at the beginning of the 20th century attended the inauguration of the Lérez Spa on 22 August 1906.[5] The hotel and spa created in 1906 by Casimiro Gómez were a meeting point for influential politicians, aristocrats and royalty of the time, who enjoyed the medicinal waters (from the Monte Porreiro and Aceñas springs) and the walking paths that surrounded this estate, which has now disappeared. Casimiro Gómez marketed the mineral waters under the brand name Aguas Lérez in bottles for domestic consumption which were sold in countries such as the United States, England, Egypt, India and Australia. In 1907, the brand received several awards and King Alfonso XIII himself congratulated Casimiro Gómez on its high quality. In the same year, he was awarded the title of supplier to the Spanish Royal Household.[6] The Infanta Elena de Bourbon, who visited the baths in 1914, the Marquis of Riestra, Montero Ríos, Cobián Roffignac and the minister José Canalejas, among others, were illustrious visitors to the baths.[7]
Partial view of the neighbourhood from the Belvedere Park.
When the First World War broke out, Casimiro Gómez returned to Argentina to become a supplier to the countries participating in the Great War. He returned to Monte Porreiro at the end of the war, but the fashion for spas was over and the activity of the estate was reoriented towards an experimental farm.[8] He built one of the first tennis courts in Galicia on his estate.[9]
The Monte Porreiro neighbourhood was developed on the basis of a Partial Plan derived from the General Plan of 1968, in which the former large Villa Buenos Aires estate was included as residential reserve land. In 1969, a model was presented of what was then called the gigantic Monte Porreiro housing estate, in which more than 2,000 dwellings of different types were planned in an area of 68 hectares. In the 1970s, the urban organisation and development of Monte Porreiro began, with the construction of a number of houses in the Reino Unido street, which was followed by modern towers on the highest slope of the estate.[10]
In 20 years, the crop fields and pastures have become an outlying dormitory district very close to the urban centre, with a large part of the neighbourhood's buildings being constructed in the 1980s. In November 1988, the Luis Seoane Secondary School was inaugurated in the neighbourhood.[12]
In November 1995, the tender for the construction of the Monte Porreiro health centre was announced, which was inaugurated in 1997.[13]
The Catholic parish church of the Good Shepherd was inaugurated by Julián Barrio, the archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, on 9 October 2010. Its plan is in the shape of a Scallop shell.[14]
Since 2020, the Plaza de Europa park has had a 20-metre long zip line.[16] In May 2020 the municipality of Pontevedra created a Metrominuto for the neighbourhood.[17]
Monte Porreiro map
Urban planning
Monte Porreiro is a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Pontevedra, north-east of the city centre. It stretches along the Lérez river. The streets in the neighbourhood are named after European countries: France, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Luxembourg, Ireland, Germany, Belgium and Greece. The central square of the neighbourhood is the Europe Square.
To the west of the neighbourhood is the Belvedere Park and to the east the UNED Park, which were part of the Buenos Aires villa, whose owner was Casimiro Gómez.[18]
Very close to the neighbourhood, downstream, is the Lérez Beach.
Facilities
The headquarters of the regional centre of the National University of Distance Education, the UNED Associated Centre of Pontevedra inaugurated in 1973, has been located in the area since 1987. Educational facilities include the Luis Seoane High School, the Marcos Portela School, the Fina Casalderrey Nursery School and the A Galiña Azul Nursery.
There is also a health centre and a parish church, and sports facilities include a football and rugby field.
The neighbourhood festivities take place every year around the 4th and 5 May and are dedicated to the patron saint of Monte Porreiro, the Good Shepherd.[19][20][21]
Pontevedra is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the Comarca and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is also the capital of its own municipality which is often considered an extension of the actual city.
The Burgo Bridge(Puente del Burgo) is a medieval bridge, built over an older bridge of Roman origin, which crosses the Lérez River in the city of Pontevedra, Spain. It is on the route of the Portuguese Way to the north of the historic centre of Pontevedra and to the south of the Burgo neighbourhood. Between the arches above the pillars are carved the famous stone pilgrim's shells.
The Currents Bridge, is a tied-arch bridge that crosses the Lérez River in the city of Pontevedra, Spain. It was inaugurated in 2012 and connects Uruguay Avenue and Domingo Fontán Street.
The Covo Island, better known as the Island of Sculptures or Illa das Esculturas in Galician, is a park and island located near the mouth of the Lérez River, in Pontevedra, Spain. It has an area of 70,000 m² and is connected to both banks of the river by footbridges and pedestrian bridges. It is the largest and most important open-air museum in Galicia and one of the most important in Spain.
The Pontevedra Auditorium and Convention Centre is a building that hosts conventions, exhibitions, concerts, plays and ballet and dance performances in Pontevedra (Spain). It is located in the northern part of the city, next to the Lérez river and the Tirantes bridge and was designed by the architect Manuel de las Casas.
The Palm Trees Park, also known simply as Las Palmeras, is a public park in the heart of Pontevedra in Spain. It is the most representative and emblematic green area in the city centre, together with the Alameda de Pontevedra.
The Lérez beach is a Galician beach located in the municipality of Pontevedra in the province of Pontevedra, Spain. It is a semi-urban river beach with a length of 100 metres.
The marina of Pontevedra is located at the mouth of the Lérez river in the ria de Pontevedra. Its nautical chart is 4162-HMI. It is managed by the Nautical Club of Pontevedra, by concession of the public entity of the Ports of Galicia – South Zone.
The Pontevedra campus is one of three campuses that host the University of Vigo. It is located in the Spanish city of Pontevedra and offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral studies in Social sciences, health sciences, arts, engineering and Sports.
The Convent of St. Clare is a former cloistered convent of the Order of Poor Clares, located in the city centre of Pontevedra, Spain, precisely in Santa Clara Street, near the disappeared St. Clare Gate of the medieval city walls. Founded in 1271, the convent closed in 2017. In 2021 the City Council bought the building from the Order, and in 2023 it transferred it to the Provincial Deputation to become part of the Pontevedra Museum.
The Natural Park of the Marismas de Alba, the Alba Marsh or the Xunqueira de Alba, is a natural park and wetland in the city of Pontevedra in Spain, and one of the few Marshes in the Ria de Pontevedra. It is a park used as a place for walking, cycling and observing the fauna and flora.
The Pontevedra Exhibition Centre is a complex for events such as exhibitions, fairs and conventions. It is in the Rosalía de Castro Park, near the banks of the Lérez River in Pontevedra, Galicia (Spain).
The paseo marítimo of Pontevedra is a pedestrian way along the seafront facing the ria of Pontevedra, in Pontevedra, Spain. This coastal public space is built in the urban and semi-urban area of the city and defines its encounter with the sea and the Lérez river.
O Burgo is a neighbourhood in the city of Pontevedra (Spain). It is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city and is crossed by the Portuguese Way. On its right-hand side is the A Xunqueira area with important educational and cultural facilities.
The Pontevedra Municipal Sports Hall(Pabellón Municipal de los Deportes) is an arena in Pontevedra, Spain. It is primarily used for team handball and is the home arena of SD Teucro. The arena holds 4,000 people. It is located in the neighbourhood of O Burgo.
The UNED Associated Centre in Pontevedra is a university teaching centre of the National University of Distance Education (UNED) located in the Spanish city of Pontevedra. It is part of UNED's North-West Campus and is its most important centre.
The Santiago Bridge crosses the Lérez River in the city of Pontevedra (Spain), where the N-550 road runs alongside it. It connects the city centre with the A Xunqueira area and the O Burgo district.
The Word Bridge is a delta-leg bridge that crosses the Lérez River in the Monte Porreiro district of the city of Pontevedra (Spain). It was inaugurated in 2011 and connects the Monte Porreiro neighbourhood with the civil parish of Lérez.
The Ria Bridge is a rigid frame bridge with V-shaped legs and a box girder road bridge that crosses the Ria de Pontevedra in the city of Pontevedra, Spain. It is part of the AP-9 motorway and opened in 1992.
Belvedere Park is a public park in the Monte Porreiro neighbourhood of the Spanish city of Pontevedra.
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