Ponce,

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

's second-largest city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, receives over 100,000 visitors annually. Ponce's sights include monuments and architecture, such as its Monumento a la Abolición de la Esclavitud and

Residencia Armstrong-Poventud Residencia Armstrong-Poventud (Armstrong-Poventud Residence) is a historic building located in the Ponce Historic Zone in Ponce, Puerto Rico, across from the Ponce Cathedral, Catedral Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. The construction of this home ...

, and pink marble curbs and

chamfer A chamfer ( ) is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...

ed streets corners, as well as historic houses, castles and concert halls. There are also more modern attractions such as its seafront Tablado La Guancha as well as attractions that date back some 1500 years, like the

Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center The Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center () in Sector La Vega de Taní, Barrio Tibes, Ponce, Puerto Rico, houses one of the most important archaeological discoveries made in the Antilles. The discovery provides an insight as to how the indigenou ...

. The city has been called "the most Puerto Rican city in Puerto Rico."Aida Belen Rivera Ruiz, Certifying Official, and Juan Llanes Santos, Preparer, Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 26 February 2008. In ''National Register of Historic Places Registration Form''. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 13. Listing Reference Number 08000283 (McCabe Memorial Church). 11 April 2008.

Within the city's urban area

Within 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 ...

Museums

Museo Parque de Bombas Museo Parque de Bombas (Parque de Bombas Museum) is a museum located inside the historic Parque de Bombas in the Ponce Historic Zone in Ponce, Puerto Rico. This museum is located at the Plaza Las Delicias town square, directly behind the Ponce ...

* Museo Francisco "Pancho" Coimbre *

Museo de la Historia de Ponce The Museo de la Historia de Ponce (Museum of the History of Ponce) is a local history museum located in the historic Casa Salazar-Candal in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The museum depicts the city's ecology, economy, architecture, government, ...

Museo de Arte de Ponce Museo de Arte de Ponce (MAP) is an art museum located on Avenida Las Américas in Ponce, Puerto Rico.Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico Tourism Company. Ven al Sur, page 20. San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2003. It houses a collection of Art of Eur ...

* Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña *

Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña Museo may refer to: * ''Museum'' (2018 film), Mexican drama heist film *Museo station Museo is a Naples Metro station on Line 1. It opened on 5 April 2001 as the eastern terminus of the section of the line between Vanvitelli and Museo. On 27 Ma ...

* Museo de la Masacre de Ponce * Museo del Autonomismo Puertorriqueño * Museo Casa Paoli

Parks

Plaza Las Delicias Plaza Las Delicias is the main plaza in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Ponce, Puerto Rico. The square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains. The historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are locate ...

Plaza Degetau Plaza Degetau, formally Plaza Federico Degetau, is the larger of two plazas at Plaza Las Delicias, the main city square in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The other plaza is named Plaza Muñoz Rivera and is located north of Plaza Degetau. The ...

Plaza Muñoz Rivera Plaza Muñoz Rivera, formally Plaza Luis Muñoz Rivera, is the smaller of the two plazas at Plaza Las Delicias in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is located on the north side of Plaza Las Delicias, north of the larger sout ...

* Parque de la Ceiba * Parque Lineal Veredas del Labrador *

Parque Urbano Dora Colón Clavell Parque Urbano Dora Colón Clavell (English: ''Dora Colón Clavell Urban Park'') is a passive park in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The park is named after the mother of ex-governor of Puerto Rico and Ponce native, Rafael Hernández Colón. It opened on 9 ...

* Parque del Tricentenario * Parque de la Abolición * Parque Ecológico Urbano

Monuments

* Monumento a la abolición de la esclavitud *

Monumento a los heroes de El Polvorín (obelisk) Monumento may refer to: * ''Monumento'' (album), a 2008 album by Dakrya * "Monumento", a 2018 song by Kyla from ''The Queen of R&B'' * Monumento, a district in Caloocan, Philippines where the Bonifacio Monument is located ** Monumento LRT statio ...

Historic houses

* Casa Vives (1860) *

Casa Paoli Casa Paoli (English: Paoli House) is a historic house and biographical museum in barrio Cuarto, Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the Ponce Historic Zone. The house is significant as the birthplace of Antonio Paoli (1871–1946), a tenor who was the "fir ...

(1864) * Residencia Ermelindo Salazar (1870) *

Casa Saurí The Ponce Plaza Hotel & Casino, formerly Ponce Ramada Hotel and Ponce Plaza Ramada Hotel, is a five-story hotel in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The hotel opened in the summer of 2009 and is known for the historic value of its structure: its main entrance ...

(1882) * Casa Rosaly–Batiz (1897) *

(1899) * Residencia Subirá (1910) *

Casa Salazar-Candal Casa Salazar-Candal () is a historic building located on the southeast corner of Isabel and Mayor Cantera streets in Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puert ...

(1911) *

Centro Español de Ponce The Centro Español de Ponce is a historic structure located in Ponce, Puerto Rico, dating to the early twentieth century and which served as the last headquarters of the Centro Español de Ponce, a Spanish heritage club. The structure is promin ...

(1911) *

Casa Serrallés Casa Serrallés (Spanish for ''Serrallés Residence'') is a historic building in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was built in 1911 by Alfredo Wiechers Pieretti for Don Juan Eugenio Serrallés Pérez, son of businessman Juan Serrallés Co ...

(1911) *

Casa Wiechers-Villaronga Casa Wiechers-Villaronga is a Classical Revival style mansion in Ponce, Puerto Rico designed and built in the early twentieth century. The house was acquired and restored by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and now operates as the Museo d ...

(1912) * Casa Oppenheimer (1913) * Casa Rosita Serrallés (1926)

Churches

* Catedral Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe - located at

Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad The Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad (''Holy Trinity Church'') was organized by British residents in Ponce, Puerto Rico, as an Anglican congregation in 1869. They built their first church of wood and metal at this site in 1873, aided by materi ...

- first Protestant church in Latin America (1873) *

Primera Iglesia Metodista Unida de Ponce The Primera Iglesia Metodista Unida de Ponce (English: ''First United Methodist Church of Ponce.'' Officially, ''Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church'') was the first structure erected in Puerto Rico by the celebrated architect An ...

* Iglesia Metodista Unida de la Playa de Ponce

Historic commercial institutions

* Hotel Meliá (1895) * Ponce Plaza Hotel & Casino (1882) * Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño (1924) *

Banco de Ponce Banco de Ponce was the Puerto Rican bank with the largest number of branches in the United States and second largest bank in deposits and number of branches in Puerto Rico during the twentieth century. Founded in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the e ...

(1924)

20th and 21st century architecture

* Coliseo Pachin Vicens (1972) * Universidad Catolica de Puerto Rico (1948) * La Guancha (1990) * Concha Acústica de Ponce (1956) - one of the venues for

Banda Municipal de Ponce The Ponce Municipal Band (Spanish: ''Banda Municipal de Ponce''), also known as ''Centenaria Banda Municipal de Ponce'', is the band of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The band is the oldest continuously-performing band in the Caribbean ...

* Complejo Ferial de Puerto Rico (2012)

Theaters

Teatro La Perla Teatro La Perla is a historic theater in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Inaugurated in 1864, it is the second oldest theater of its kind in Puerto Rico, but "the largest and most historic in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean." The theater was name ...

(1864) * Teatro Fox Delicias * Concha Acústica de Ponce

Shopping

Paseo Atocha Paseo Atocha is a pedestrian shopping mall in the Ponce Historic Zone, a historic district in Ponce, Puerto Rico. For over a century the narrow Calle Atocha was bustling retail center opened to vehicular traffic, yet flooded with shoppers. Cong ...

- charming 20th century shopping experience *

Los Chinos de Ponce Los Chinos de Ponce (English: ''"The Chinesemen of Ponce"''), formally King's Cream, is an Ice cream parlor located at ''Calle Marina 9322'' in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, in front of the town square, Plaza Degetau, opposite the historic Pa ...

- ice cream parlor over 50 years old * Fox Delicias Mall - historic theater-turned-shopping mall (now closed) *

Plaza de Mercado de Ponce Plaza del Mercado de Ponce (English: Ponce Market Plaza) or, formally, Plaza del Mercado Isabel Segunda (often abbreviated as Plaza del Mercado Isabel II), is a historic marketplace building in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was inaugurated in 1863 by P ...

- historic farmer's market marketplace *

Mercado de las Carnes Mercado de las Carnes (), also known as La Plaza de los Perros (), but formally, ''Plaza Juan Ponce de León'' (Juan Ponce de León Plaza), was the first building in Puerto Rico to mix social and architectural elements via the pedestrian mall c ...

- aka, Plaza Juan Ponce de León

Cultural institutions

* Centro Cultural de Ponce Carmen Sola de Pereira *

Biblioteca Municipal de Ponce The Ponce Municipal Library, formally, ''Biblioteca Municipal Mariana Suárez de Longo'' (English: Mariana Suárez de Longo Municipal Library), and also known as Biblioteca Publica de Ponce (English: Ponce Public Library), is the library system ...

- at Boulevard Mguel Pou *

, located at Centro Integrado para el Fortalecimiento de las Artes Musicales (1864) * Antiguo Casino de Ponce

Festivals and events

Carnaval de Ponce The Carnaval de Ponce (English: Ponce Carnival), officially Carnaval Ponceño, is an annual celebration of the Carnival holiday held in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The celebration lasts one week, and like most observations of the holiday ends on Fat Tu ...

Día Mundial de Ponce Día Mundial de Ponce (Ponce World Day) is a cultural celebration held in Ponce, Puerto Rico, every year during the month of September. The celebration actually starts the Monday before Labor Day with various evening-time cultural festivities. ...

Feria de Artesanías de Ponce In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, a feria is a day of the week other than Sunday. In more recent official liturgical texts in English, the term ''weekday'' is used instead of ''feria''. If the feast day of a saint falls on such a day, t ...

Festival Nacional de la Quenepa The Festival Nacional de la Quenepa (English: National Genip Fruit Festival) is a cultural celebration that takes place every year in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The festival centers around the genip fruit, the city's official fruit. The celebration ...

Las Mañanitas "Las Mañanitas" is a traditional Mexican birthday song written by Mexican composer Alfonso Esparza Oteo. It is popular in Mexico, usually sung early in the morning to awaken the birthday person, and especially as part of the custom of serenad ...

Fiesta Nacional de la Danza The Fiesta Nacional de la Danza (English: National Danza Festival), also known as Semana de la Danza Puertorriqueña (English: Puerto Rican Danza Week), is a cultural celebration that takes place every year in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The festival c ...

Ponce Jazz Festival The Ponce Jazz Festival is a musical celebration that takes place every year in Ponce, Puerto Rico.Ponce Marathon * Cruce a Nado Internacional

Others

* Campo Atlético Charles H. Terry * Albergue Caritativo Tricoche *

Antiguo Cuartel Militar Español de Ponce The Antiguo Cuartel Militar Español de Ponce or El Castillo ('Old Spanish Military Headquarters in Ponce' or 'The Castle') is the only structure directly related to the events of the land defense of Puerto Rico during the 1898 American invasion ...

* Antiguo Hospital Militar Español de Ponce *

Ponce Servicios Ponce Servicos, formerly Plaza del Mercado Juan Bigas, is a brutalist municipal building located Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is the largest building in the municipality in terms of footprint area and the only one that occupies an entire city block. T ...

- building with the largest footprint in the city * Casa Alcaldía de Ponce (1840)

Outside the Ponce Historic Zone

Museums

Museo Castillo Serrallés 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 in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, that showcases the history of sugar cane, ...

Cemeteries

Cementerio Civil de Ponce Cementerio Civil de Ponce (Ponce Civil Cemetery), a.k.a., Cementerio Municipal de Ponce, is a historic burial ground in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1901. It was designed by Manuel V. Domenech. Some of the people buried at Cementerio ...

– burial site for

Hector Lavoe In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

and many other prominent Puerto Ricans *

Cementerio Católico San Vicente de Paul The Cementerio Católico San Vicente de Paul () is a cemetery in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is the only cemetery in Puerto Rico with a group of niches built forming a basement, in which the burials occurred beneath ground level, thus giv ...

- NRHP#88001249 *

Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro The Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro (English: Román Baldorioty de Castro National Pantheon) is a tract of land in Segundo (Ponce), Barrio Segundo of the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, originally designed as the city's cemetery, but ...

(1842) - the burial site of many illustrious citizens

Historic homes

Castillo Serrallés Castillo Serrallés (English: Serralles Castle) is a mansion located in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, overlooking the downtown area ( Ponce Pueblo). It was built during the 1930s for Juan Eugenio Serrallés, son of businessman Juan Serrall� ...

(1930) - HRHP# 80004494, a "castle" built by Pedro Adolfo de Castro for rum baron Juan Eugenio Serrallés * Casa Fernando Luis Toro (1927) - NRHP# 86000421

Others

Monumento a los heroes de El Polvorín (tomb) Monumento may refer to: * ''Monumento'' (album), a 2008 album by Dakrya * "Monumento", a 2018 song by Kyla from ''The Queen of R&B'' * Monumento, a district in Caloocan, Philippines where the Bonifacio Monument is located ** Monumento LRT statio ...

(1911) - to the seven men that saved the city from a devastating fire in 1899 *

Cruceta del Vigía Cruceta del Vigía (English: The Watchman Cross) is a tall cross located atop Cerro del Vigía in Ponce, Puerto Rico, across from Museo Castillo Serrallés. It houses a tourist center at its base, a ten-story vertical tower, and a horizontal s ...

- lookout for panoramic views of the city and Caribbean Sea, located next to

* Ponce YMCA - NRHP# 12000331 * Calle 25 de Enero - historic

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

village, home to Ponce firefighters and their families * Iglesia Metodista Unida de la Playa de Ponce - NRHP #08000283 *

Plaza del Caribe Plaza del Caribe is an enclosed shopping mall located in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is owned by Empresas Fonalledas, and is the largest mall in southern Puerto Rico. The mall is located at the intersection of Puerto Rico Highway 2 and Highway 12. ...

Centro del Sur Mall Centro del Sur Mall is a shopping mall in Ponce, Puerto Rico. At the time of its inauguration in 1962,Carmelo Rosario Natal. ''Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945-2002.'' Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Auton ...

* Grand Prix de Ponce - speedway *

Villa Pesquera Villa Pesquera is a sea-front fishing village in barrio Playa (Ponce), Playa, in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The site is one of the tourist attractions in the municipality of Ponce. Location Formerly an ad hoc group of fishermen, V ...

- fishing village *

Club Náutico de Ponce The Club Náutico de Ponce (''Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club'') is a yacht club in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The club is located contiguously on Gatas (Ponce), Isla de Gatas, near the Paseo Tablado La Guancha, La Guancha recreational and cultural area, ...

- private sports complex, viewable from the La Guancha Boardwalk * Complejo Ferial de Puerto Rico - convention center

Outside the city's urban area

Beaches

* Playa Pelícano Beach - a

Blue Flag beach The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its standards. The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE, which is a Not-for-profit organi ...

* El Tuque Beach * La Guancha Beach

Mountains

* Cerro Punta - It is Puerto Rico's tallest, and both northern and southern coasts of the island can be seen on clear days *

Monte Jayuya Monte Jayuya is the second highest peak of Puerto Rico measuring above sea level. The mountain is located in the Cordillera Central, on the border between the municipalities of Jayuya ( Barrio Saliente) and Ponce (Barrio Anón). The peak is ...

- Puerto Rico's second tallest peak *

Cerro Maravilla Cerro Maravilla is Puerto Rico's fourth highest peak at . It is located on the northern edge Barrio Anón in Ponce, close to the border with the municipality Jayuya, and is part of the Cordillera Central (Central Mountain Range). It is known ...

- Known as ''El Cerro de los Mártires'', it is the annual gathering point for independence activists *

Cerro del Vigía Cerro del Vigía is a hill in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico, located just north of the city of Ponce. A tourist destination, it is home to Museo Castillo Serrallés, Cruceta del Vigía, and the former Hotel Ponce Intercontinental. The ...

- Home to

, and (now closed)

Hotel Ponce Intercontinental The Hotel Ponce Intercontinental (also known as ''"El Ponce"'') is an abandoned hotel with a still existing structure at Cerro del Vigía in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The structure is considered a historic landmark and a national icon in the city o ...

Parks, forests and recreational areas

Caja de Muertos Caja de Muertos (; also in English: ''Deadman's Chest'' or ''Coffin Island'') is an uninhabited island off the southern coast of Puerto Rico, in the municipality of Ponce. The island and its surrounding waters are protected by the Caja de Muer ...

* Parque Luis A. "Wito" Morales * Parque Ceremonial Indigena de Tibes *

Cerrillos State Forest Cerrillos State Forest is one of the 21 state forests in Puerto Rico. It is located in barrio Maragüez, in the municipality of Ponce, and covers of valleys and mountains in the foothills of the Cordillera Central mountain range. The forest ha ...

Toro Negro State Forest Toro Negro State Forest (Spanish: ''Bosque Estatal de Toro Negro'') is one of the 21 forests that make up the public forests system in Puerto Rico. It is also Puerto Rico's highest cloud forest. It is in the Cordillera Central, Puerto Rico, Cord ...

* Cerrillos Dam * La Guancha Boardwalk *

Reserva Natural Punta Cucharas Reserva Natural Punta Cucharas (Punta Cucharas Nature Reserve) is a nature reserve in Barrio Canas, Ponce, Puerto Rico. It consists of both a land area component as well as an offshore marine area. The land component has an area of while the ...

Others

Hacienda Buena Vista Hacienda Buena Vista, also known as Hacienda Vives (or Buena Vista Plantation in English), was a coffee plantation located in Barrio Magueyes, Ponce, Puerto Rico. The original plantation dates from the 19th century. The plantation was started ...

- 19th century coffee plantation * Destileria Serralles - makers of

Ron Don Q Don Q is a Puerto Rican rum, distilled, manufactured, bottled, and distributed by Destilería Serrallés from its corporate facility in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Don Q, "Puerto Rico's best-known rum", is the top-selling rum in Puerto Rico, where o ...

* Portugues Dam

References

{{Historic buildings of the Ponce Historic Zone

Tourist attractions A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beau ...

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 ...

Ponce

Within the city's urban area

Within 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 ...

Museums

Parks

Monuments

Historic houses

Churches

Historic commercial institutions

20th and 21st century architecture

Theaters

Shopping

Cultural institutions

Festivals and events

Others

Outside the Ponce Historic Zone

Museums

Cemeteries

Historic homes

Others

Outside the city's urban area

Beaches

Mountains

Parks, forests and recreational areas

Others

See also

References

Within 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 ...