Send Gift Baskets to Pontevedra, Spain

There is a local legend relating the foundation of Pontevedra to Teucer, the Trojan War hero. This legend was further emphasized by the suspicion that Greek traders may have arrived in the Rias Baixas area in ancient times. Despite this, historians and archaeologists tend to agree that the initial settlement was likely formed during the integration of Gallaecia (old Galicia) into the Roman Empire (circa 1st century B.C.) (References needed). Currently, the city’s name is a Latin composite, derived from Pons/Pontis (bridge) and Veteris/Vetera (old), hence Ponte(m)Vetera(m), and the Galician language Ponte-Vedra, “old bridge,” referring to the ancient Roman bridge over Lérez River. It became an intermediate town during the Suebic period (circa 5th–6th century A.D.), well-connected since Roman times.

In the 12th century, Pontevedra became an important commercial center; it reached its zenith in the 15th century as a center for trade and communications. As the primary urban center of Galicia, Pontevedra was the most important city. Pontevedra has the second-largest “old town” in Galicia, just after Santiago de Compostela. The Portuguese Way, or the southern route of the Way of Saint James, passes through Pontevedra. Tourists and pilgrims enjoy the scallop-shaped floor plan of the Church of the Pilgrim Virgin.

Despite the increase in fishing, the 16th century still saw it as a commercial city. Since Pontevedra was a secure port open to the sea and the largest Galician port. One of Christopher Columbus’ ships, the Carrack Santa Maria, initially called La Gallega (“The Galician”), was built in Pontevedra. The sedimentation caused by the Lérez River gradually rendered the harbor unsuitable for large-scale navigation centuries later. After the end of the 16th century, the city began to decline, which had already started for the rest of Galicia.