Museo Castillo Serrallés (English: ''Serrallés Castle Museum''), a.k.a. Museo de la Caña y el Ron (English: ''Sugar Cane and Rum Museum''), is an

agricultural museum An agricultural museum is a museum dedicated to preserving agricultural history and heritage. It aims to educate the public on the subject of agricultural history, their legacy and impact on society. To accomplish this, it specializes in the di ...

in the city of

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, that showcases the history of

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...

, its derivative

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Phili ...

industry, and their impact in the economy of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. The most notorious feature of the museum is the building it occupies. The building is a large four-story structure built in the 1930s for the owner of Ponce's Destileria Serralles, one of Puerto Rico's largest rum distilleries. The distillery was once also home to Puerto Rico's largest sugar-factory called

Central Mercedita Hacienda Mercedita was a sugarcane plantation in Ponce, Puerto Rico, founded in 1861, by Juan Serrallés Colón. Today Hacienda Mercedita no longer grows sugarcane and its lands are instead used for growing mangoes, grasses, landscape plants a ...

, producers of the ''Snow White'' sugar brand. The building, known as Castillo Serrallés, was designed by

Pedro Adolfo de Castro Pedro Adolfo de Castro (1895–1936) was a twentieth-century architect from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Early years He was born Pedro Adolfo de Castro Besosa in January 1895, in Brooklyn, New York, to Pedro De Castro (1867 - 1928; from Ceiba, Puer ...

in 1930 in the

Spanish Colonial Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the ...

style. The museum sits on a 2.5-acre lot and opened on 20 February 1991.''Cumple Dos Décadas de Historia y Pasión.''
Carmen Sila Rodriguez. La Perla del Sur. (Ponce, Puerto Rico) 26 August 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2009. Visitors can tour the refurbished home, which has been furnished to appear as it did in the 1930s. There is also a temporary exhibit area for local artists. The Serrallés Castle is now part of a large complex that includes the

Cruceta El Vigía ''Acanthocereus tetragonus'', is a species of cactus that is native to Florida and the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. The species is invasive in New Caled ...

, a

Japanese Garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

, and a

butterfly garden Butterfly gardening is a way to create, improve, and maintain habitat for lepidopterans including butterflies, skippers, and moths. Butterflies have four distinct life stages—egg, larva, chrysalis, and adult. In order to support and sustain ...

('' Mariposario''). By September 2010, the museum was receiving around 100,000 visitors per year.''Caen los donativos: Peligra el destino del Castillo Serrallés.''
Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 22 September 2010. Page 11. Year 28, Number 1399. Retrieved 15 November 2011.

Location

The museum sits on a hilltop overlooking the downtown area ( Ponce Pueblo). Built during the 1930s by order of Juan Eugenio Serrallés, son of businessman

Juan Serrallés ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, founder of

Destilería Serrallés Destilería Serrallés is a rum producer located in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and best known for its Don Q rum brand. The company is Puerto Rico's oldest family-owned company and has revenues of over 100 million dollars. In 2011, it was responsible f ...

, the museum structure sits on a exceedingly manicured property.Luis Muñoz Polanco, Engineer, Government of the Municipality of Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Director, Office of Planning and Budget, Government of the Municipality of Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico. 7 July 1980. In ''National Register of Historic Places Registration Form - Castillo de Serrallés''. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Section 8, Page 3. Listing Reference Number 80004494. 3 November 1980. The museum is one of the most iconic structures in Puerto Rico and receives some 100,000 visitors a year.

History

The house was purchased by the city of Ponce from the Serrallés heirs. While the castle was valued at $17–$25 million, it was purchased for a mere $400,000 and included much of the furniture in the sale.''Cumple Dos Décadas de Historia y Pasión.''
Carmen Sila Rodriguez. La Perla del Sur. (Ponce, Puerto Rico) 26 August 2009. Page 24. Retrieved 26 September 2009. The city's initial intent was to turn it into a museum of Puerto Rican music. The

Museum of Puerto Rican Music A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

, however, was eventually established elsewhere in the city. The castle was built in 1926 by local

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Pedro Adolfo de Castro y Besosa. It includes two huge terraces, an outside fountain, and a symmetrical backyard garden. Its interior includes a luxurious hall, a spacious dining room, and an interior

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

.Museo Castillo Serrallés
/ref>

Administration

The museum is administered and operated by a non-governmental, non-profit, civic organization called ''Patronato de Ponce.'' The organization received an

endowment Endowment most often refers to: *A term for human penis size It may also refer to: Finance *Financial endowment, pertaining to funds or property donated to institutions or individuals (e.g., college endowment) *Endowment mortgage, a mortgage to b ...

from the Ponce Municipal Government of $600,000 a year during the 2008-2009 fiscal year, but due to the worldwide economic downturn the Municipality dropped its endowment to $300,000 per year in 2010. It had also been receiving an undisclosed amount in yearly donations from the private sector, but $75,000 of that was also dropped due to the economy. The museum operates with a $1.2 M yearly budget.

Displays and tours

Access to the museum is through the side patio/balcony entrance on the southern end of the building. The museum can only be seen via guided group

tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

, and tour guides are very diligent in enforcing this rule as the administration does not want visitors wandering around the house on their own. The only on-your-own time comes at the gift shop. The museum has four floors, and the displays on each floor focus on a particular aspect of the museum and the lives of its former owners. The ground floor, which is the castle's former basement, houses all of the museum's rum and sugar-related expositions. On its northern end is the castle's former 3-car

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

now turned into the museum's

gift shop A gift shop or souvenir shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs, memorabilia, and other items relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, toys, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collect ...

. This level also houses the main entrance to the museum on its southern end. On the main, center area are the former service quarters which used to house mechanical, electrical, and water storage facilities. These have been remodeled to provide for the

turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a t ...

entry, a restaurant, and an

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

capable of sitting some 50 visitors. There are also some ''Patronato'' offices on this floor.Patronato de Ponce
/ref> The second floor contains the castle owner's former library, a central patio, a

solarium Solarium may refer to: * A sunroom, a room built largely of glass to afford exposure to the sun * A terrace (building) or flat housetop * The '' Solarium Augusti'', a monumental meridian line (or perhaps a sundial) erected in Rome by Emperor Augu ...

, the living room, dining room, and the kitchen. More photos adorn the wall on this level, shown the development of both rum and sugar businesses. This level contains the former formal access to the house via its front main entrance.Luis Muñoz Polanco, Engineer, Government of the Municipality of Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Director, Office of Planning and Budget, Government of the Municipality of Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico. 7 July 1980. In ''National Register of Historic Places Registration Form - Castillo de Serrallés''. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Section 7, Page 2. Listing Reference Number 80004494. 3 November 1980. The third floor contains all the sleeping quarters. These are shown with furniture as well as all types of personal accessories of the former occupants. Throughout this level are wall-hung pictures of the rum-producing family clan. The pictures here are oriented towards the personal and family live of the clan. The fourth floor is the terrace, from where the most impressive and commanding views of the city are possible. Intended as a relaxed entertainment space, the terrace has both covered and uncovered areas.

Gardens

The city also rejuvenated the surrounding landscape. The backyard now consists of lush green grass, fountains, manicured shrubs, and lights. The first floor also houses an outdoor square that is covered by the roof over the second floor. The city uses this area to showcase the work of local artists and photographers. The area is now used for private weddings, ''

quinceañera A (also , , , and ) is a celebration of a girl's 15th birthday. It has pre-Columbian roots in Mexico (Aztecs) and is widely celebrated by girls throughout Latin America. The girl celebrating her 15th birthday is a (; gender (linguistics), ...

'' celebrations, and other similar social events.

References

External links

Museo Castillo Serrallés Website

Eyetour: Museo Castillo Serrallés
- visitor's information {{Ponce, Puerto Rico Museums in Ponce, Puerto Rico History museums in Puerto Rico Historic house museums in Puerto Rico Museums established in 1991 Museo Castillo Serrallés Industry museums in Puerto Rico Museo Castillo Serrallés Sugar museums History of sugar Sugar industry in Puerto Rico