Vigo. history of Vigo

The evidences of prehistoric human settlements in the area are rare; however, the first registers seem to date from the Neolithic period. Some other remains, instruments and other tools belonging to previous eras Palaeolithic and Mesolithic were also found in some points of the city. The remarkable petroglyphs found in several parishes belong to the Bronze Era, and the remains from the castros’ culture and from the Roman period are abundant and of particular importance. These remains were found both in the urban and suburban areas, and their presence evidences the fact of commercial relations by sea being held at least as early as in that period.

Since the Middle Ages, Vigo’s coast suffered the frequent raids of the pirates coming from northern Europe, a fact that meant a handicap for the city’s development and its subsequent economic growth. In those years, Vigo was just a small village and showed a constant characteristic of Galician society: the power was in the hands of the religious authorities. In the 12th century, and even though the economic power of Vigo was then inferior to those of some other towns, like Baiona and Redondela which had the permission of the Spanish Crown to keep maritime trade with other ports, the city expansion began. However, it is easy to understand the hindering that the continuous pirate attacks and the occasional scourges of the plague meant for the local fishers and traders, doomed to an uncertain fortune. Eventually, in the 16th century, the ship-owners of the city achieved the letters of marque from the Crown. But it will not be as late as in the 18th century that the monopoly on the maritime trade will be abolished. The wealthy conditions of the area and the possibilities for the urban development were due to the fertile waters of the estuary, where the sardines had the most favourable conditions for their reproduction.

In this historical environment, the Battle of Rande (1702) takes place. During this cruel event, which has written down the name of Vigo in the History books, the combined English and Dutch fleet entered the estuary with the aim of making off with the treasures brought from America by the Spanish Silver Fleet, escorted by French allies.

A defensive wall with seven doors surrounded Vigo, being their names: Falperra, Berbés, Mar, Laxe, Gamboa, Sol and Pracer. The bulwarks were demolished in 1869 to favour the urban expansion.

The orographic conditions of Galicia, among other circumstances, caused, for centuries, the isolation of the villages, for the ways of communication were very poor. Nevertheless, it was in the late 18th century, with the coming of merchants and traders from Catalonia and the Basque Country, attracted by this estuary’s potential for the fishing trade, when the economic development of the city definitively took off. At the same time, the communications were improved with the construction of a new stone pier, a road connecting Galicia to Castile and, in the 1860’s, with the railway lines.

Each year, the city feasts the so-called Festa da Reconquista, to commemorate the uprising of the citizens against the invader French army in 1809.

During the second half of the 19th century, the process leading to the definitive and irreversible urban expansion began. The architecture stood as a mirror where the economic development was reflected: the magnitude of the trades with America could be inferred from the quality of the bourgeoisie houses raised along the main avenues. In this period, a dramatic population growth also occurred.

The port of Vigo, which is nowadays one of the main fishing ports in Europe, has been for years the departure ports for thousands of Galician emigrants to America.

Related Links

• History. Vigo City Council.
• Museums. Vigo City Council.
• Vigo in Shots.
• Documentary images: The history of Vigo.
• Business in Vigo.