Parque del Tricentenario is a passive urban park 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 ...

. The park was built to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the city. It was inaugurated during the mayoral administration of mayor

Rafael Cordero Santiago Rafael Cordero Santiago (24 October 1942 – 17 January 2004), better known as "Churumba", was the Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 1989 to 2004. Many considered him as a synonym of Ponce, being baptized as "El León Mayor ...

Location

The park is a passive urban family park. It is located in Barrio

Tercero Tercero (''Barrio Tercero'') is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Together with Primero, Segundo, Cuarto, Quinto, and Sexto, Tercero is one of the municipality's six core urban barrios. It was organized in 1 ...

at the entrance to the

Ponce Historic Zone The Ponce Historic Zone (''La Zona Histórica de Ponce'') is a historic district in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico, consisting of buildings and structures with architecture that date to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The zone go ...

on Miguel Pou Boulevard, at the southern terminus of

PR-1 Puerto Rico Highway 1 (PR-1) is a highway in Puerto Rico that connects the city of Ponce to San Juan. Leaving Ponce, the road heads east and follows a somewhat parallel route along the southern coast of the island heading towards Salinas. At S ...

Features

The park is a three-

plaza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

park. All three plazas have gardens and marble benches. Setting the stage for the park is ''El Puente de los Leones'' (The Bridge of the Lions). It spans

Rio Portugues Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

and is the gateway to, not just Parque del Tricentenario, but to the Ponce historical district as well. It features two brass lions guarding the entrance: the older lion represents wisdom and experience, while the younger one stands for the glorious future.

The Illustrious Ponce Citizens Plaza

Its centerpiece is a plaza containing a fountain dedicated to Ponce's most illustrious citizens. This plaza is known as ''Parque de los Ponceños Ilustres'' (the Illustrious Ponce Citizens Plaza). At either side of this plaza, and tucked in somewhat but facing side streets that lead to and return from the center of the city, are two separate areas dedicated to two of the most honored citizens of Ponce. The one on the right is dedicated to governor

Rafael Hernandez Colon Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ''R ...

; the one on the left is dedicated to governor

Luis A. Ferre Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

. A large wall near Hernandez Colon's right plazalette has the encryption, "''Ponce es del que nos visita. Ponce es nuestro''" (Ponce belongs to those who visit us. Ponce is ours). The middle area is the largest area of this plaza. It contains a very large fountain and behind the fountain are 24 "

kiosk Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...

s" with fountainettes. Sixteen of these fountainette kiosks are dedicated to illustrious Ponce citizens in 16 different areas of endeavor. Moving from left to right, these twelve areas are: History, Politics, Journalism, Writing, Architecture, Citizenship, Medicine, Music, Craftsmanship, Education, Sports, Plastic Arts, Law, Business, Ponceñistas, and Theatrical Arts. Each fountainette kiosk then has one or more

plaque Plaque may refer to: Commemorations or awards * Commemorative plaque, a plate or tablet fixed to a wall to mark an event, person, etc. * Memorial Plaque (medallion), issued to next-of-kin of dead British military personnel after World War I * Pla ...

s with the names or those being honored engraved on them. Every few years the municipal government announces that new names are to be added to the list and petitions its citizens for suggestions.

The Francisco Porrata Doria Plaza

Plaza Francisco Porrata-Doria at Tricentennial Park in Ponce, PR (IMG 3274)

The second major plaza, called the ''Plaza de la Arquitectura

Francisco Porrata Doria Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

'' (Francisco Porrata Doria Architecture Plaza), features a rotunda and honors the city's architecture. On the rotunda's outer crown is the following encryption: "''Ponce es Tradicion, Cultura, Espiritu, Civismo, Ilusion. Ponce es Virtud.''" ("Ponce is Tradition, Culture, Spirit, Civism, Ilusion. Ponce is Virtue.") The same rotunda has another encryption on its floor that reads: "''Estabilidad, Durabilidad, Conveniencia, Belleza, Firmeza.''" ("Estability, Durability, Convenience, Beauty, Resolution.") To the right of this plaza is the bust of governor

Roberto Sanchez Vilella The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

who, though not born in Ponce, did lived there during his formative school years, and is considered an adopted son of the city.

The Latin American Statesmen Plaza

The third major plaza honors

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

n statesmen and it is called ''Plaza de los Próceres Latinoamericanos'' (Latin-American Statesmen Plaza). This third plaza is dedicated to

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...

Juan Pablo Duarte Juan Pablo Duarte y Díez (January 26, 1813 – July 15, 1876) was a Dominican military leader, writer, activist, and nationalist politician who was the foremost of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic and bears the title of Father of ...

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the libera ...

, and

Luis Muñoz Marín José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín (February 18, 1898April 30, 1980) was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, statesman and was the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, regarded as the "Architect of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth." In 1948 he ...

, and there are statues of these prominent people there.

History

The park was inaugurated in 1992 under the administration of mayor

Symbolisms

The entrance of the park, via

Puente de Los Leones The Puente de los Leones (literally, Bridge of the Lions) is a historic bridge in Ponce, Puerto Rico, joining Barrio Tercero to Barrio San Antón and Barrio Machuelo Abajo. It is also the city's best known bridge. The bridge is at the western t ...

, is guarded by two massive pillars each topped by a lion - one the symbol of knowledge, the other the symbol of power.''Sandra Scott Travel: South and Central America-Ponce, Puerto Rico.''
Retrieved April 25, 2010

References

External links

Photo of Lions Bridge circa 1923 when it used to be called Machuelo Bridge.
The bridge is located in the southern end of Barrio

Machuelo Abajo Machuelo Abajo is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Canas Urbano, Magueyes Urbano, Portugués Urbano, and San Antón, Machuelo Abajo is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that are ...

(also called "Machuelo Urbano" after it became urbanized) immediately across from Parque del Tricentenario. Accessed 5 January 2011. {{Historic buildings of the Ponce Historic Zone Buildings and structures in Ponce, Puerto Rico Tourist attractions in Ponce, Puerto Rico Urban public parks Parks in Ponce, Puerto Rico Protected areas established in 1992 1992 in Puerto Rico 1992 establishments in Puerto Rico Tricentennial anniversaries