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History of Pontevedra


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A local legend relates the foundation of Pontevedra to Teucer, hero of the Trojan War, a legend which was reinforced with the suspicion that Greek traders might have arrived to the Rias Baixas area in ancient times. However, historians and archaeologists tend to agree that the initial settlement was probably formed during the integration ofGallaecia (old Galicia) into the Roman Empire (circa 1st century BC). The name of the city is a Latin composite, derived from Pons/Pontis (bridge) and Veteris/Vetera (old), hence Ponte (m) Vetera (m), and thence Galician language Ponte-Vedra, "the old bridge", in reference to the old Roman bridge across Lérez River. Well-connected since Roman times, Pontevedra consolidated itself as an intermediate town during the Suebic period (circa 5th-6th century AD).

During the 12th century Pontevedra rose as an important commercial centre; it reached its zenith in the 15th century as a trade and communications hub. Pontevedra was then one of the main Galician urban centres. In fact, Pontevedra has the second largest "old town" in Galicia, only after Santiago de Compostela. Pontevedra was on the route of theWay of Saint James, namely its southern or "Portuguese" branch. The "Capela da Virxe Peregrina" (Church of the Pilgrims), with its distinctive scallop-shaped floor plan, is a popular destination for tourists and pilgrims.

In the 16th century it still was a commercial city, with an increase in fishing. At that time, Pontevedra was the largest Galician port, as it was a secure port open to the sea. One of Christopher Columbus' ships, the carrack Santa Maria, originally named La Gallega ("The Galician"), was built in Pontevedra. It was in centuries later that the sedimentation caused by river Lérez gradually rendered the harbour unsuitable for large-scale navigation.

The end of the 16th century marked the beginning of the decline of the city, a decline which had already started for the rest of Galiciafrom the end of
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