Aguada barrio-pueblo is a small

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

and the administrative center (

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

) of Aguada, a municipality of Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 1,324. Aguada barrio-pueblo has two subdivisions: California and Rosario. As was customary in Spain, in Puerto Rico, the municipality has a barrio called ''

pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

'' which contains a central plaza, the municipal buildings (city hall), and a Catholic church. Fiestas patronales (patron saint festivals) are held in the central plaza every year.

The central plaza and its church

The central plaza, or square, is a place for official and unofficial recreational events and a place where people can gather and socialize from dusk to dawn. The

Laws of the Indies The Laws of the Indies ( es, Leyes de las Indias) are the entire body of laws issued by the Spanish Crown for the American and the Asian possessions of its empire. They regulated social, political, religious, and economic life in these areas. Th ...

, Spanish law, which regulated life in Puerto Rico in the early 19th century, stated the plaza's purpose was for "the parties" (celebrations, festivities) ( es, a propósito para las fiestas), and that the square should be proportionally large enough for the number of neighbors ( es, grandeza proporcionada al número de vecinos). These Spanish regulations also stated that the streets nearby should be comfortable portals for passersby, protecting them from the elements: sun and rain. In 1516, the church was built, and after it was destroyed by

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, it was reconstructed in 1639. Located across the central plaza in Aguada barrio-pueblo is the , a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church. It was built in 1692, then reconstructed in 1793. It was destroyed by the

1918 San Fermín earthquake The 1918 San Fermín earthquake, also known as the Puerto Rico earthquake of 1918, struck the island of Puerto Rico at on October 11. The earthquake measured 7.1 on the moment magnitude scale and IX (''Violent'') on the Mercalli intensity scale ...

. Following the architectural design of Antonio Martínez and José Lazaro, it was rebuilt between the years 1924 and 1936. Stained glass windows were installed in 1956 and again in 1964. Its interior was remodeled in 1993. The oldest festival in Puerto Rico was celebrated in and around the church in Aguada. To honor the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

it was held for many years, starting in the 16th century. The festival which lasted eight days went on for many years until ended by the church for having become too commercialized. Aguada's annual patron saint festival in honor of

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

is held from late September to early October in the Plaza Carlos Ruiz.

Sectors

Barrios (which are like

minor civil divisions A minor civil division (MCD) is a term used by the United States Census Bureau for primary governmental and/or administrative divisions of a county or county-equivalent, typically a municipal government such as a city, town, or civil township. MCD ...

) in turn are further subdivided into smaller local populated place areas/units called sectores (''sectors'' in English). The types of ''sectores'' may vary, from normally ''sector'' to ''urbanización'' to ''reparto'' to ''barriada'' to ''residencial'', among others. The following are in Aguada barrio-pueblo: , and . In Aguada barrio-pueblo is part of the Aguada urban zone.

Gallery

Places in Aguada barrio-pueblo: Estatua de Cristóbal Colón en Aguada, Puerto Rico.jpg, A statue of in the plaza Plaza de Aguada.jpg, The main plaza and the Roman Catholic Church of Aguada Parroquia de San Francisco de Asís, Aguada, Puerto Rico.jpg,

References

External links

*{{GNIS, 2415089 Barrios of Aguada, Puerto Rico

The central plaza and its church

Sectors

Gallery

See also

References

External links