The Instituto Valle-Inclán building is a large eclectic and modernist building located in the center of the Spanish city of Pontevedra. It owes its name to the writer Valle-Inclán, who studied and lived in Pontevedra. It is the headquarters of the Valle-Inclán Secondary Education Institute and was without interruption the first[1] and only secondary education institute in the province of Pontevedra[2] from 1845 to 1927.
Location
The institute is located on the westernmost side of the Gran Vía de Montero Ríos (designed in the 1870s and inaugurated in 1893), in front of the Alameda de Pontevedra. It is the new bourgeois neighborhood created after the demolition of the city walls starting in 1855. The construction of other large buildings such as the Palace of the Provincial Council of Pontevedra, or the Building of the Normal School of Pontevedra made this place the great leisure space of the city's bourgeoisie at the end of the century and in the first decades of the century.[3].
History
The Secondary Education Institute of Pontevedra (later called the General and Technical Institute of Pontevedra in 1901 and the National Institute of Pontevedra[4] in 1924), was created by Royal Decree of October 30, 1845 within the framework of the General Study Plan (known as Plan Pidal), which created a secondary education center in each Spanish provincial capital.[5] The Provincial Public Secondary School Institute Teaching of Pontevedra was inaugurated on November 19, 1845 and its headquarters were established in the old Jesuit College "Colegio de la Compañía de Jesús (Pontevedra)"), located in the building next to the church of San Bartolomé "Iglesia de San Bartolomé (Pontevedra)"). In 1880, the institute hosted part of the Regional Exhibition of Galicia that took place in the city.
In 1902 the institute was moved to the Normal School building (today belonging to the Provincial Council of Pontevedra), to put an end to the numerous expenses caused by the repairs of the old Jesuit College and it remained in that location until the inauguration of the new building itself in 1927.[6].
The official initiative for the construction of a new building for the Secondary Education Institute came from the Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, Manuel Allendesalazar y Muñoz de Salazar, at the beginning of 1903, when a competition was called for the development of the project. dominican With its construction, the great avenue of large official buildings on the Gran Vía was completed. In addition to the institute, the buildings of the Pontevedra Provincial Council and the old Normal School gave shape to this new official architecture of the last decades of the century.
Institute architecture
Introduction
The Instituto Valle-Inclán building is a large eclectic and modernist building located in the center of the Spanish city of Pontevedra. It owes its name to the writer Valle-Inclán, who studied and lived in Pontevedra. It is the headquarters of the Valle-Inclán Secondary Education Institute and was without interruption the first[1] and only secondary education institute in the province of Pontevedra[2] from 1845 to 1927.
Location
The institute is located on the westernmost side of the Gran Vía de Montero Ríos (designed in the 1870s and inaugurated in 1893), in front of the Alameda de Pontevedra. It is the new bourgeois neighborhood created after the demolition of the city walls starting in 1855. The construction of other large buildings such as the Palace of the Provincial Council of Pontevedra, or the Building of the Normal School of Pontevedra made this place the great leisure space of the city's bourgeoisie at the end of the century and in the first decades of the century.[3].
History
The Secondary Education Institute of Pontevedra (later called the General and Technical Institute of Pontevedra in 1901 and the National Institute of Pontevedra[4] in 1924), was created by Royal Decree of October 30, 1845 within the framework of the General Study Plan (known as Plan Pidal), which created a secondary education center in each Spanish provincial capital.[5] The Provincial Public Secondary School Institute Teaching of Pontevedra was inaugurated on November 19, 1845 and its headquarters were established in the old Jesuit College "Colegio de la Compañía de Jesús (Pontevedra)"), located in the building next to the church of San Bartolomé "Iglesia de San Bartolomé (Pontevedra)"). In 1880, the institute hosted part of the Regional Exhibition of Galicia that took place in the city.
In 1902 the institute was moved to the Normal School building (today belonging to the Provincial Council of Pontevedra), to put an end to the numerous expenses caused by the repairs of the old Jesuit College and it remained in that location until the inauguration of the new building itself in 1927.[6].
The project by architects Joaquín Rojí López-Calvo and José de Lorite Kramer was selected in July 1904, according to the institute's minutes. The works were put out to tender for an amount of 575,109.20 pesetas. The building consisted of two patios, a chapel, a library and laboratories.[8] The work was promoted by Minister Augusto González Besada (a former student of the institute). On January 5, 1905, the two architects who designed the building project arrived from Madrid to begin work on the Provincial General and Technical Institute of Pontevedra and met with the mayor Bernardo López Suárez and the contractor,[9][10] Manuel Domínguez. On May 4, the architects returned to the city and the land was laid out to begin the works.[11] In February 1906, construction of the building began[12] and in April numerous workers were already working on it,[13][14][15] with the material being transported by carts.[16].
The works lasted for two decades, far exceeding the time initially planned, and were interrupted on several occasions due to lack of budget or a shortage of bidders, which caused a growing accumulated delay. Finally, in the general budgets of the State of 1919, and thanks to the influence of Augusto González Besada, an item of 700,000 pesetas was allocated to guarantee the completion of the project.[2].
The works of the then called General and Technical Institute of Pontevedra finished at the beginning of 1926, with a great delay due mainly to economic difficulties. The architect Joaquín Rojí traveled to Pontevedra on February 28, 1926 to give approval to the building. He was then entrusted with the budget for the interior equipment, which took more than a year. The institute was inaugurated on September 27, 1927 by King Alfonso XIII during a visit to Pontevedra.[2][17].
In the post-war period, the institute's students (boys and girls) were separated into two different floors with separate entrances. In 1963, a female institute was created, which would become the current IES Valle-Inclán, and the building was renovated. The women's institute was temporarily moved in 1964 to the Normal School building during renovation works.[18] The last complete renovation of the building in the century was undertaken in 1972.[19].
In 2023, a major renovation of the building began, in which the Government of Galicia invested 6 million euros.[20] Among other improvements, all the windows in the building were replaced, the hot water, heating and lighting systems were renewed and the structure of the building was improved by reinforcing the floors and renewing the metal cover of the covered patio.[1][21] In April 2025, the comprehensive rehabilitation of the building was completed, which included the renovation of the exterior carpentry, which recovered its original brown color, including the three main doors and the side door towards the Palmeras park, while the shutters remained white. The stained glass windows above the doors were also restored. The last part of the rehabilitation focused on the recovery of a hidden part of the interior patio adjacent to the ruins of Santo Domingo.[22].
During the century, professors of the stature of Castelao, Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, Aquilino Iglesia Alvariño, Jesús Muruais, Emilio Álvarez Giménez, Víctor Said Armesto, Antonio Losada Diéguez, José Filgueira Valverde and Bibiano Fernández Osorio y Tafall gave him enough fame to be one of the most valued in the field of teaching.[23].
It is one of the few old Spanish institutes that has preserved its original use over the years, since the building was inaugurated.
Description
It is a sober and elegant example of the eclectic and modernist styles.[24] Its main façade and entrance are located on the Gran Vía de Montero Ríos, although the building has a rear exit that leads to an irregularly shaped backyard closed by a fence for use by the institute and another exit in the back corner where the tower is located in front of the Parque de las Palmeras.
It consists of a basement, ground floor and two floors. The decoration of the padding on the facades and doors stands out, as well as the decoration of the window lintels and the skylights in the central part of the roof. The decoration of the façade consists mainly of geometric motifs on the windows and doors, as well as floral motifs and small circles. The central body of the façade of the main entrance is decorated in a modernist style: a large window with a curved lintel and a secessionist geometric rhythm. It has a tower in which the directors of the institute lived during the first years of its existence.[25].
Inside, a large central marble staircase, illuminated by a large modernist skylight with the Pontevedra coat of arms, allows access to the first floor and ends in front of the center's auditorium. The building has several side stairs that connect to the different floors, which were originally made of wood and spiral.[23] The configuration of the building is symmetrical and regular, with the classrooms in the main wing of the building organized around a central rectangular patio with a metal roof surrounded by large windows that provide light. The building has three patios: the central one, another in the back that leads to Frei Tomás de Sarria street and which is used as a parking lot, and a third attached to the ruins of Santo Domingo.[26][22] The building has 8,300 square meters of surface and 323 windows on four floors.[27].
On the ground floor is the institute's library.[28] This large room has a wooden staircase that leads to an upper level, where there is a walkway that surrounds the book shelves and a wooden railing.[29]
In the institute, whose building is one of the most distinguished in Galicia,[30] more than 760 students study.[1] As a large Galician historical building and institute, it has been described as an "educational cathedral."[31].
Culture
In 1966, a proposal by Gonzalo Torrente Ballester[32] was approved and the institute adopted its current name "Valle-Inclán" due to the writer's relationship with the city, where he studied, lived, wrote and published his first book "Femeninas" in 1895. Valle-Inclán, at the age of 12, began his high school studies in Pontevedra, which he also finished in Pontevedra in 1883.[33].
The institute was the birthplace of the Aula Castelao de Filosofía and, at the same time, of the Galician Philosophy Week.[34] The president of the Regional Government of Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, and the mayor of Pontevedra, Miguel Anxo Fernández Lores, among other public figures, have studied at the institute.[31].
Image gallery
• - Main facade.
• - Rear façade and tower.
• - Main facade.
• - Entrance.
• - Side and rear facades.
• - Detail of the facade.
• - Valle-Inclán Institute next to the ruins of Santo Domingo.
• - Students in 1923.
• - Teachers and subjects of the 1928-1929 academic year, including Castelao as a drawing teacher.
• - Institute tower.
• - Gran Vía de Montero Ríos.
• - Architecture of Pontevedra.
• - San Fernando Barracks "San Fernando Barracks (Pontevedra)").
• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Valle-Inclán Secondary School Building.
• - Valle-Inclán Institute building on the Galician Tourism website.
• - Website of the Valle-Inclán Institute Junta de Galicia.
The official initiative for the construction of a new building for the Secondary Education Institute came from the Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, Manuel Allendesalazar y Muñoz de Salazar, at the beginning of 1903, when a competition was called for the development of the project. dominican With its construction, the great avenue of large official buildings on the Gran Vía was completed. In addition to the institute, the buildings of the Pontevedra Provincial Council and the old Normal School gave shape to this new official architecture of the last decades of the century.
The project by architects Joaquín Rojí López-Calvo and José de Lorite Kramer was selected in July 1904, according to the institute's minutes. The works were put out to tender for an amount of 575,109.20 pesetas. The building consisted of two patios, a chapel, a library and laboratories.[8] The work was promoted by Minister Augusto González Besada (a former student of the institute). On January 5, 1905, the two architects who designed the building project arrived from Madrid to begin work on the Provincial General and Technical Institute of Pontevedra and met with the mayor Bernardo López Suárez and the contractor,[9][10] Manuel Domínguez. On May 4, the architects returned to the city and the land was laid out to begin the works.[11] In February 1906, construction of the building began[12] and in April numerous workers were already working on it,[13][14][15] with the material being transported by carts.[16].
The works lasted for two decades, far exceeding the time initially planned, and were interrupted on several occasions due to lack of budget or a shortage of bidders, which caused a growing accumulated delay. Finally, in the general budgets of the State of 1919, and thanks to the influence of Augusto González Besada, an item of 700,000 pesetas was allocated to guarantee the completion of the project.[2].
The works of the then called General and Technical Institute of Pontevedra finished at the beginning of 1926, with a great delay due mainly to economic difficulties. The architect Joaquín Rojí traveled to Pontevedra on February 28, 1926 to give approval to the building. He was then entrusted with the budget for the interior equipment, which took more than a year. The institute was inaugurated on September 27, 1927 by King Alfonso XIII during a visit to Pontevedra.[2][17].
In the post-war period, the institute's students (boys and girls) were separated into two different floors with separate entrances. In 1963, a female institute was created, which would become the current IES Valle-Inclán, and the building was renovated. The women's institute was temporarily moved in 1964 to the Normal School building during renovation works.[18] The last complete renovation of the building in the century was undertaken in 1972.[19].
In 2023, a major renovation of the building began, in which the Government of Galicia invested 6 million euros.[20] Among other improvements, all the windows in the building were replaced, the hot water, heating and lighting systems were renewed and the structure of the building was improved by reinforcing the floors and renewing the metal cover of the covered patio.[1][21] In April 2025, the comprehensive rehabilitation of the building was completed, which included the renovation of the exterior carpentry, which recovered its original brown color, including the three main doors and the side door towards the Palmeras park, while the shutters remained white. The stained glass windows above the doors were also restored. The last part of the rehabilitation focused on the recovery of a hidden part of the interior patio adjacent to the ruins of Santo Domingo.[22].
During the century, professors of the stature of Castelao, Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, Aquilino Iglesia Alvariño, Jesús Muruais, Emilio Álvarez Giménez, Víctor Said Armesto, Antonio Losada Diéguez, José Filgueira Valverde and Bibiano Fernández Osorio y Tafall gave him enough fame to be one of the most valued in the field of teaching.[23].
It is one of the few old Spanish institutes that has preserved its original use over the years, since the building was inaugurated.
Description
It is a sober and elegant example of the eclectic and modernist styles.[24] Its main façade and entrance are located on the Gran Vía de Montero Ríos, although the building has a rear exit that leads to an irregularly shaped backyard closed by a fence for use by the institute and another exit in the back corner where the tower is located in front of the Parque de las Palmeras.
It consists of a basement, ground floor and two floors. The decoration of the padding on the facades and doors stands out, as well as the decoration of the window lintels and the skylights in the central part of the roof. The decoration of the façade consists mainly of geometric motifs on the windows and doors, as well as floral motifs and small circles. The central body of the façade of the main entrance is decorated in a modernist style: a large window with a curved lintel and a secessionist geometric rhythm. It has a tower in which the directors of the institute lived during the first years of its existence.[25].
Inside, a large central marble staircase, illuminated by a large modernist skylight with the Pontevedra coat of arms, allows access to the first floor and ends in front of the center's auditorium. The building has several side stairs that connect to the different floors, which were originally made of wood and spiral.[23] The configuration of the building is symmetrical and regular, with the classrooms in the main wing of the building organized around a central rectangular patio with a metal roof surrounded by large windows that provide light. The building has three patios: the central one, another in the back that leads to Frei Tomás de Sarria street and which is used as a parking lot, and a third attached to the ruins of Santo Domingo.[26][22] The building has 8,300 square meters of surface and 323 windows on four floors.[27].
On the ground floor is the institute's library.[28] This large room has a wooden staircase that leads to an upper level, where there is a walkway that surrounds the book shelves and a wooden railing.[29]
In the institute, whose building is one of the most distinguished in Galicia,[30] more than 760 students study.[1] As a large Galician historical building and institute, it has been described as an "educational cathedral."[31].
Culture
In 1966, a proposal by Gonzalo Torrente Ballester[32] was approved and the institute adopted its current name "Valle-Inclán" due to the writer's relationship with the city, where he studied, lived, wrote and published his first book "Femeninas" in 1895. Valle-Inclán, at the age of 12, began his high school studies in Pontevedra, which he also finished in Pontevedra in 1883.[33].
The institute was the birthplace of the Aula Castelao de Filosofía and, at the same time, of the Galician Philosophy Week.[34] The president of the Regional Government of Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, and the mayor of Pontevedra, Miguel Anxo Fernández Lores, among other public figures, have studied at the institute.[31].
Image gallery
• - Main facade.
• - Rear façade and tower.
• - Main facade.
• - Entrance.
• - Side and rear facades.
• - Detail of the facade.
• - Valle-Inclán Institute next to the ruins of Santo Domingo.
• - Students in 1923.
• - Teachers and subjects of the 1928-1929 academic year, including Castelao as a drawing teacher.
• - Institute tower.
• - Gran Vía de Montero Ríos.
• - Architecture of Pontevedra.
• - San Fernando Barracks "San Fernando Barracks (Pontevedra)").
• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Valle-Inclán Secondary School Building.
• - Valle-Inclán Institute building on the Galician Tourism website.
• - Website of the Valle-Inclán Institute Junta de Galicia.