The Alameda and the Gran Vía de Montero Ríos with the Ruins of the San Domingo Convent and the official institutional buildings from the end of the 19th century can be considered as an extension of the historic centre to the west.

[7] Pontevedra was equipped with a fortified wall that developed in three successive stages from the original core located in the vicinity of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the highest and most easily defended area.

[9] In the last years of the 13th century, the mendicant orders of the Dominicans, Poor Clares[10] and Franciscans arrived, the latter building their convent on the other high point of the old town, to the east.

In 1452, John II of Castile granted Pontevedra the title of loading and unloading port of Galicia and, in 1467, Henry IV rewarded it with the authorisation to establish an annual 30-day free fair.

[11] It was necessary to have a sufficiently large and controlled space to hold the fair (corresponding to the present-day Plaza de la Herrería).

Throughout the 16th century, the network of streets, squares and buildings covered part of the empty spaces inside the walls of Pontevedra.

[18][19] The Basilica of Saint Mary Major and the Convent of San Francis mark the strategic points from west to east of the old town on two hills.

The main green area in the historic centre is the Casto Sampedro gardens annexed to the church and former convent of Saint Francis, in the center of which is the Renaissance fountain of La Herrería.

The most representative religious buildings in the old town were built by mendicant orders (Dominicans, Franciscans),[23] by the powerful sailors' guild, by the Jesuits and by the brotherhood of Our Lady of Refuge and Divine Mother of Pilgrims.