05.EXPERIENCE VIGO
ART AND CITY
ART AND CITY
Vigo, a vibrant city that combines fishing tradition and industrial and commercial activities, invites you to discover its diverse cultural offer. Explore the city, stroll around its quiet and bustling streets and squares, and enjoy its architecture and museums, which display both traditional and innovative works: a cultural patchwork at your fingertips!
During your stay in Vigo, you can enjoy the culture and art of an open, bustling and attractive city. Vigo combines sea tradition with innovation, industry, the maritime traffic of its leading port and commercial activity. As regards culture, this city offers both traditional and contemporary artistic creations.
Fall in love with art and visit museums as the MARCO, a showcase of the most avant-garde artistic works, or the Municipal Museum of Vigo Quiñones de Léon, which, located in an old pazo, shows you the history of the city and displays a splendid artistic collection from the 17th and 18th centuries. Be immersed in the Galician culture at the Laxeiro Foundation, which displays some of the major works of the 20th-century Galician art, and visit the Liste Ethnographic Museum, which brings you closer to the essence of the traditional Galician everyday life.
You can stroll around the city to discover medieval and Renaissance palaces and others built in the second half of the 19th century, a booming period for the economy of the place. Seek the sea breeze and stroll by the ría, sail among the bateas (mussel rafts) and enjoy the picturesque coastal towns.
- 1- Vigo
MUSEUMS
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Located near the Samil Beach, it is an interactive museum covering all areas related to human communication. It is designed as a cultural, recreational and informative space where visitors can participate in the exhibition in an active way.
Avenida de Samil, 17, 36212 VigoPhone: +34 986 240 130 -
This museum, which displays the collection of the ethnographer Olimpio Liste Regueiro, shows the Galician ethnographic heritage through 2,000 pieces that bring us closer to handicrafts, no longer existing trades, farming activities, religion or popular medicine.
R/ Pastora, 22, 36210 VigoPhone: +34 986 244 698 -
This museum keeps and displays the collection of painting works that the artist Xosé Otero Abeledo (1908-1996), popularly known as Laxeiro, donated to the city of Vigo. This collection is a good example of the Renovators of Galician avant-garde movement in the 20th century. The foundation also organises temporary exhibitions.
R/ Policarpo Sanz, 15, 36201 VigoPhone: +34 986 438 475 -
The museum displays works from different artistic disciplines (plastic arts, architecture, video, design and cinema). The architecture of the remodelled building, which was used as a prison and as the headquarters of the courts of Vigo, is an attraction in itself.
R/ Príncipe, 54, 36202 VigoPhone: +34 986 113 900 -
The museum, opened in 1937, is located in an old pazo (manor house) surrounded with camellia gardens. In the old residence, one can feel the atmosphere of past times, with European paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries. The adjacent building shows the history of the city and the region of Vigo, from Prehistory up to the Middle Ages. One can also visit the Galician painting and sculpture section, displaying works from the late 19th century up to the present time.
Parque de Castrelos, s/n, 36213 VigoPhone: +34 986 295 070 +34 986 295 075
OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST
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It was designed by the architect Jenaro de la Fuente and inaugurated in 1898. It has a rectangular floor plan, with corridors defining 16 areas and large gardens with 14 different tree species. It has sumptuous pantheons, where illustrious figures of the city rest, as well as modest tombstones, some of them nameless.
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Fifteenth-century urban palace, considered the oldest preserved building in the city. Built in the late Gothic style, it resembles a medieval tower. The window lintels, stone gargoyles and coats of arms stand out.
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The historical area of Vigo is an attraction in itself. In the past, it used to be a small village that was turned into a city thanks to a booming industry. To enjoy the monuments of the town, it is recommended to start at the Porta do Sol, and walk along the streets Urzáiz, Colón, Príncipe, Areal or Policarpo Sanz to discover its eclectic-style buildings, such as the Bonín Building, by architect Jenaro de la Fuente, and the Theatre García Barbón, by Antonio Palacios. Must visits are the square Praza da Constitución and the old town, especially the street Rúa dos Cestos, and the co-cathedral of Santa María.
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Urban palace, adjacent to the Casa de Ceta, which was built in the 16th century in the Plateresque Renaissance style. The balcony supported by mouldings, the gargoyles, the noble coat of arms and the adorned arches of the windows are its most important features.
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It is one of the most representative buildings of the city, built between 1879 and 1884 in granite and in the eclectic style by Jenaro de la Fuente y Domínguez for Manuel Bárcena Franco, Count of Torrecedeira. It currently hosts the most important Galician collection in the world.
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Pedro Barrié de la Maza founded this institution in 1966 with the aim of improving the economic and social conditions in Galicia. It is located in the old building of the Bank of Vigo, designed by the architect Manuel Gómez Román and built between 1919 and 1923. Among other activities, it organises exhibitions, seminars and concerts.
NATURAL SPOTS
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Located in the highest point of the heart of Vigo, it serves as a vantage point over the city and the coastal inlet Ría de Vigo. It has a beautiful garden and the remains of a pre-Roman settlement, popularly known as castro, which dates back from the 3rd to the 1st century BC.
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The archipelago of Cíes, at the entrance of the coastal inlet Ría de Vigo, is made up of three islands with an important ecological value: Monteagudo, O Faro and San Martiño. They serve as observatories of the wildlife of the area.
OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST
- Spa NagariPraza de Compostela, 21, 36201 Vigo
Phone: +34 986 21 13 14[+] INFO
CULINARY MOMENTS
- Vigo’s fish market (Vigo)
Group visits to the Vigo’s fish market are organised by appointment. There, one can attend one of the exciting fresh fish auctions.
- Oyster tastings (Vigo)
In the Rúa das Ostras, (Oyster Street) oysters can be tasted raw in several restaurants.
- Old fishing neighbourhood of O Berbés (Vigo)
A traditional fishing neighbourhood where there used to be dry docks and warehouses to keep the boats and fishing tools. Later, the fishermen’s houses were built. The activities linked to the sea used to take place at the main squares and arcades.
[+] INFO
