Ponce, Puerto Rico

Ponce, Puerto Rico, officially the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce, is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Southern Coastal Plain region of the island. The historic Ponce Pueblo (the downtown area of the city) consists of plazas and churches and highly decorative  colonial homes, some glorious fountains and a unique fire station.

Ponce, the second largest city in Puerto Rico outside of the San Juan metropolitan area is named after Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the grandson of Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León .

It is located a few miles from the Caribbean coastline of the island. It is often referred to as La Perla del Sur (The Pearl of the South) and La Ciudad Señorial de Puerto Rico (Majestic city of Puerto Rico). To the locals is known as Ciudad de los Leones (City of Lions).

Ponce was the capital of Puerto Rico's southern region until it fell to the U.S. in 1898. Ponce's historical center dates from the 17th century and many interesting plazas, churches, museums, and colonial homes are found in the city.

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Locals are referred to as ponceños. Since the Second World War, the town has seen quick development in the industrial, commercial and tourist arenas.

Many of city's historic Spanish colonial, Art Deco and neo-Classical buildings are being restored. And the city is spending $20 million to renovate and expand its cultural crown jewel, the Ponce Museum of Art , which claims to have the most extensive art collection in the Caribbean.

The city has no fewer than five museums that honor different aspects of its history and culture. Among them are the Museo de la Historia de Ponce, Puerto Rico (the Ponce History Museum), the Museo de la Música (the music museum) and the Museo de la Arquitectura (the architecture museum.)

There are also museums honoring the city's baseball stars and the nearly two dozen people killed when the police fired on a group of protesting Puerto Rican nationalists in 1937.

In Ponce's Museum of Art , this gallery is by far the island's, and possibly the Caribbean's, most notable art spot. Its original collection was donated by local ponceño and former Governor of the island, the laureated Luis A. Ferre.

The museum's offerings range from the finest local painters (Oller and Campeche), to fine classics like Lord Leighton's Flaming June. The collection spans 500 years, since the discovery of Puerto Rico, but the museum's array is truly international.

The museum also contains a representative collection of the works of the old masters of Europe, including Gainsborough, Velázquez, Rubens, and Van Dyck. The museum is best known for its pre-Raphaelite and baroque paintings and sculpture, not only from Spain, but from Italy and France as well.

One of many landmarks of the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Cruceta El Vigia (El Vigia Cross) is a 100-foot-tall cross located atop Vigia Hill in Ponce, Puerto Rico, directly in front of the Serralles Castle museum.

It houses a tourist center at its base, a 10 story vertical tower, and a horizontal  sky bridge that has panoramic views of the city of Ponce and the Caribbean sea. Visitors can reach the skybridge via glass elevators or a stair case.

The cross is owned by the Municipality of Ponce and is currently operated by the "Patronato de Ponce", a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and administrating several of the city's landmarks.

The cross sits at the same spot on Vigia Hill where early Spanish settlers once looked out for merchant ships and would-be invaders, including marauding pirates.

In 1801, the settlers built a much smaller cross made of two intersecting tree trunks where an observer would constantly watch the sea and the city's port, raising different flags to either notify local merchants of incoming trade ships or alert military authorities of possible threats (a replica of this wooden cross now sits behind the current monument).

Right next to it locates the Serralles Castle (El Castillo Serrallés). The castle was built by local architect, Pedro Adolfo de Castro y Besosa, using the Spanish Colonial Revival style.

It was located in a hill that overlooks the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It has two huge terraces, an outside fountain, and a symmetrical garden. Inside it has a luxurious hall, a huge dining room, and an interior patio.

The complex is surrounded by elaborate gardens which host major social events. The house has been turned into a museum featuring some of the family's medieval collections, and a “said” top-notch exhibition detailing the history of Puerto Rico's sugar cane and rum production industries.

The Serralles family is the last Puerto Rican family on the island that (legally) continues the rum distillation tradition, manufacturing and distributing more than 60 percent of the rum sold in Puerto Rico.

Serralles Distillery rums can be purchased under the brand names Ron Don Q, Ron Llave, Palo Viejo and Granado. The company also produces Ron Rico and Captain Morgan rum for distribution by Seagram's in the United States.

The beautiful downtown Plaza de las Delicias (Plaza of Delights) in the center of Ponce, is a worthwhile stop, with lovely fountains, a cathedral and local bench sitting denizens.

The square is famous for its fountains and for all the monuments it has around the area. Both the Parque de Bombas and the Ponce Cathedral are located in the middle of the square.

The Plaza Las Delicias is as the name suggests a delightful place. The north section of the square is called Plaza Luis Muñoz Rivera (or Luis Muñoz Rivera square), while the south section is called Plaza Federico Degetau (or Federico Degetau square).

Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Guadalupe (Cathedral Our Lady of Guadalupe), built in 1931, stands on the site of the original chapel (damaged by fire and earthquake) built by colonists in the 1660s.

The actual facade bears a French neoclassical style. Some of the improvements were the addition of new chapels, a new roof and the improvement of the facade with two new richly decorated towers. It is registered with the National Trust of Historic Sites.

The Catedral is a wonderful place to escape the heat, hustle and bustle of the surrounding areas. The ephemeral quiet will soothe your senses and recharge your soul. Regular services are held at the Catedral Nuestra Señora and donations are always gratefully accepted.

Any street in Ponce, Puerto Rico is in itself an outdoor museum of sorts. The city’s architectural treasures are lavishly decorated with wrought iron balconies, window grilles and ornamental trim.

Nearly one half a billion dollars have been spent preserving the colonial core of Ponce. The heart of Ponce dates from the late 17th century and has been declared a national treasure.

Other buildings around Ponce's main plaza include Casa Alcaldía (city hall), the oldest colonial building in the city, dating to the 1840s. Nearby sits Casa Armstrong-Poventud, an example of the neoclassical architectural heritage of the island.

Experience the early 1900s with the furniture and utensils from that era which are still in place in the Casa Armstrong-Puventud Museum, as well as paintings and pictures belonging the original owners of this grand old home. Opened from Tuesday to Sunday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Admission: $3.

Due to its natural harbor and calm waters, Ponce is one of the largest ports in the Caribbean. Located near this port, "La Guancha Paseo Tablado", the boardwalk, is a fun stop where you can loiter with lively local Ponceños-the teen scene, elders and the toddler-mamma set.

The pier here is the departure point for a regularly scheduled weekend ferry to Coffin Island or Dead Box Island ("Caja de Muertos"), a small island of pristine beaches, an old lighthouse (built in 1887) and a marked snorkel trail.

Built in the 1990s, the boardwalk overlooks the yacht harbor and features a concert pavilion, an observation tower, many restaurants and bars, and a public beach. This can be a busy place, with lots of live salsa music and crowds.

The Paseo Tablado La Guancha is also a great place to look out at the water and catch a cool breeze. 

North of Ponce, Puerto Rico resides the Tibes Indian Ceremonial Center . This ancient Indian site, still being excavated, is one of the most important archaeological sites in the West Indies.

This fascinating site was discovered in 1975 when heavy rains uncovered shards of pottery.

Tibes is the oldest cemetery in the Antilles with skeletons dating from 300 A.D. and plazas dating from 700 A.D. In addition to the graves, you can view a Taino village complete with huts, dance and sporting fields, as well as an area similar to Stonehenge.

Apart from an ancient cemetery, it also features the remains of seven courts used by the Igneri (pre-Taino) people for a football-like game, two dance grounds, and standing stones believed to have been used as an ancient astronomical observatory.

A popular tourist attraction, just two miles (3km) north of Ponce, the site has been equipped with a reconstructed Taino village, a museum, exhibition hall, café and souvenir shop. Visitors are taken on conducted tours.

Driving around town you can find the Teatro La Perla (The Pearl Theater) which was built in the neoclassical style in 1864 and remains one of the most visible symbols of the economic prosperity of Ponce during the mid-19th century.

Designed by Juan Bertoli, an Italian-born resident of Puerto Rico who studied in Europe, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1918, and rebuilt in 1940 according to the original plans; it reopened to the public in 1941.

 This neoclassical theater is the largest in the Spanish speaking Caribbean and hosts everything from plays and concerts to beauty pageants. The theater is famous for its acoustics - sound from the stage is so clear that microphones are unnecessary. Performances of various sorts are held most nights, and most are presented in Spanish only.

Last but definitely not least we found the Hacienda Buena Vista , considered one of Puerto Rico's best remaining examples of a coffee plantation, consists of an 87 acre agricultural complex constructed in the mid-19th century.

The hacienda's principle buildings, grouped together within a three acre area, include the hacienda manor house, a carriage house, horse and mule stables, a caretaker's house and office, two warehouses, a hurricane shelter, a corn mill and slave quarters.

A canal, beginning at the top of "Vives Waterfall," goes through an aqueduct and on to the coffee mill, which is a two-story wooden building located to the northwest of the Hacienda Manor House.

At its height Hacienda Buena Vista produced and processed more than 10,000 pounds of coffee per year for shipment to Europe. The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico purchased the land and buildings from the Vives family in 1984.

Done with your trip to Ponce? You must stop and take a break at the Balneario El Tuque. At last, beach time has come again, and Balneario El Tuque in Ponce is such a good place.

There's so much fun things to do close to Balneario El Tuque including swimming, boating, hiking, whitewater paddling, and fishing, so being deficient in pursuits will not occur.

 Come and ride the "Speed and Splash" water slides. The park is located near Ponce International Speedway Park, a drag racing track. There is also a El Tuque Hotel , located near the premises of the calm beach of the Caribbean.

But you don't go to Ponce for thriving night life. Ponce is not exactly a nightlife city. In fact, it closes down at dark. On weekends younger folks head to La Guancha boardwalk, strolling along the water, getting drinks at several of the bars and grabbing a bite to eat from vendors and enjoying some of the music which may come from a performing group, or float out from the bars.

The Hilton's casino bar offers salsa music and dancing on weekends. A stroll through central makes you quickly forget that you are still in the United States. The city is best for those who admire art and architecture and can enjoy soaking in its ambience.

Where to stay:

Other points of interest in Ponce:

• Abolition Park (Parque de la Abolición) and Acoustic Stage (Concha Acústica) 
• Ponce History Museum (Museo de la Historia de Ponce) 
• Francisco Pancho Coimbre Sports Museum 
• Ponce Massacre Museum (Museo de La Masacre de Ponce) 
• Armstrong-Puventud House Museum 
• Central Mercedita (sugar cane and rum processing plant) 
• Tercentennial Park 
• Dora Colón Clavell Urban Park 
• Plaza del Caribe Mall 
• Fox Delicias Mall 

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