Vigo. Pazo Quiñones de León
About this heritage
Officially known as Museo da Cidade Quiñones de León, it takes its name from the Marquis of Alcedo himself, D. Fernando Quiñones de León. He was the one who donated his space in 1924 to the city of Vigo, with the condition that it be converted into a museum. It contains one of the best permanent collections of Galician painting, also housing a representative archaeology section. Located in the Pazo de Castrelos, it is an institution dependent on the Concello de Vigo, currently integrated into the city's Culture, Festivals, and Museums circuit. The museum was inaugurated in 1937 and its origin lies in the old Pazo de Lavandeira, a medieval military architecture built in 1670 and surrounded by gardens with clear English and French influences. The building is flanked by two towers, currently renovated and expanded with an addition at its rear. It features a perpendicular distributor that houses the chapel and the service pavilion. On the ground floor, we can find the remains of the former residence of the marquises, with ornamentation, furniture, and decoration from the period.
To learn more
as well as the permanent exhibition of European painting from the 17th and 18th centuries, bequeathed by Policarpo Sanz. Outside, the gardens cover five hectares of the twenty-four that make up the perimeter of the Parque de Castrelos. At the back of the Pazo, the old orchard becomes a historic space, divided into six sectors: entrance, upper rose gardens, French garden (geometric), English garden (landscape), foyer, and forest. It has been declared a historic-artistic monument as a whole: the museum, the collections, the gardens, and the Parque de Castrelos itself have been a Property of Cultural Interest since 1955.
To know it better
The Municipal Museum of Vigo, also known as Museo da Cidade Quiñones de León, is a historical-artistic legacy of the Marquis of Alcedo, D. Fernando Quiñones de León, who stipulated in 1924 that it be dedicated as a cultural and museum space. It has largely maintained its original construction throughout its history, integrated within the surroundings of the Parque de Castrelos. This great lung of Vigo, spanning twenty-four hectares, and its Pazo belonged between 1678 and 1918 to the Gago de Mendoza Oca Sarmiento family; until D. Fernando Quiñones de León. Having no grandchildren, he donated the park and the Pazo to the Vigo City Council, turning it into an institution dependent on the Concello that shares collections with the Francisco Fernández del Riego art gallery (in the Arias Taboada house), both municipally owned. It was inaugurated as a museum on July 22, 1937, achieving the status of Property of Cultural Interest and Historic Garden (with a route subtitled in Braille), by Royal Decree on February 25, 1955. This Vigo landmark offers an interpretive space with a language that combines the exhibition of original works along with the narrative of historical-cultural contexts of the era. It has become one of the main identity symbols of Vigo, present throughout much of its history during the Modern and Contemporary Ages. Its origin goes back to the old Pazo de Lavandeira, from which one of the two towers flanking the building takes its name, as shown by the coat of arms on the main facade. This typology follows the trend of medieval military architecture. During conflicts with Portugal, the Torre de Lavandeira was devastated, and the new morgado building founded by Captain Juan Tavares was erected in 1670. It is an example of an urban-Castilian Renaissance palace, common in rural Galicia. Later, it was renovated and expanded by the Marquis of Alcedo, with an addition at the rear that integrates a perpendicular distributor housing the chapel and service pavilion. The ground floor is intended for service rooms, kitchen, and storage. The noble floor contains salons and rooms. The current furniture results from numerous donations and purchases by the Concello de Vigo. The chapel is austere, although it has a mid-16th century altarpiece of unknown origin. It is Plateresque in style with two bodies divided into three panels, with four paintings on wood signed by the Zamoran master Lorenzo de Ávila. This floor also houses the permanent exhibition of European painting from the 17th to 19th centuries bequeathed by Policarpo Sanz, with pieces of classical Dutch, Italian, Flemish, French, and Spanish painting. The gardened space is conceived in the manner of the great Baroque gardens of France, based on a longitudinal axis perpendicular to the facade. Designed at the end of the 19th century by the school of Jacinto Mattos (Oporto), it is divided into six parts: entrance garden, rose gardens, French garden, English garden or tea meadow, porch, and, at the back, the forest. Composed of a wide variety of exotic, ornamental, and centenary plants, the camellia of the French garden stands out, a walkway with a double row of camellias called Paseo de Antonio Odriozola. This leads to the nursery and the tennis court, a pioneer in introducing this sport to Galicia. Tulips brought from Virginia, as well as the old magnolias, including the oldest in Galicia, together with a line of eucalyptus planted in 1872, are the most significant examples. This space is dressed with myrtles and features an original dovecote where a controlled colony of rock pigeons is bred.
Location
- Locality
- Urbano
- Municipality
- Vigo
- Province
- Pontevedra
- Country
- Spain
The asset
- Type
- Museum
- Eco-destination
- Ría de Vigo
- Environment
- sprinkling sculptures, a gallery of coats of arms, and various monuments throughout the remaining space.
- Relevance
- Pontevedra
How to get there
- Access
- By land
- Distance
- 4,900 km
The visit
- Visitable
- Yes
- Accessible
- Sí
- Parking
- Sí
- Signposted
- Yes
Coordinates
- Latitud
- 42.21322500
- Longitud
- -8.72760100