Parque del Tricentenario is a passive urban park in the city of

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

. 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 at the entrance to the

Ponce Historic Zone The Ponce Historic Zone (Spanish: ''Zona Histórica de Ponce'') is a historic district in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico, consisting of buildings, plazas and structures with distinctive architectures such as Neoclásico Isabelino and the Ponce Cr ...

on Miguel Pou Boulevard, at the southern terminus of PR-1.

Features

The park is a three-

plaza A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rela ...

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 and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

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; 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 plaques 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

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''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Commu ...

'' (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 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 is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

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 (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

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 ...

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

, 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, 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 ar ...

(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 establishments in Puerto Rico Tricentennial anniversaries