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Firehouse museum at dusk Parque de Bombas, Plaza Las Delicias, Ponce, Puerto Rico

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Overview

Ponce es Ponce (Ponce is Ponce), runs a simple yet telling Puerto Rican saying: the explanation given as to why the nation's haughty second city does things, well, uniquely – and in defiance of the capital. Native son and author Abelardo Díaz Alfaro went further, calling Ponce a baluarte irreductible de puertorriqueñidad – a bastion of the irreducible essence of Puerto Rico. Strolling around the sparkling fountains and narrow architecturally ornamented streets of the historic center certainly evokes Puerto Rico’s stately past.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Museo de Arte de Ponce

    Museo de Arte de Ponce

    Ponce

    Brush Strokes in Flight, a bold primary-colored totem by American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, announces the smartly remodeled MAP, where an expertly…

  • Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes

    Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes

    Ponce

    The ancient ceremonial center of Tibes is one of the Caribbean's most important archaeological sites, due largely to evidence found here of pre-Taíno…

  • Lion Fountain in Plaza Las Delicias, the main square in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

    Plaza Las Delicias

    Ponce

    Within this elegant square you’ll discover Ponce's heart as well as two of the city’s landmark buildings, Parque de Bombas and Catedral Nuestra Señora…

  • Firehouse museum at dusk Parque de Bombas, Plaza Las Delicias, Ponce, Puerto Rico

    Parque de Bombas

    Ponce

    Ponceños (people from Ponce) claim that the eye-popping Parque de Bombas is Puerto Rico’s most frequently photographed building, which is not too hard to…

  • Hacienda Buena Vista

    Hacienda Buena Vista

    Ponce

    The overgrown coffee fields and quaint historical buildings of Hacienda Buena Vista make this one of Puerto Rico's best-preserved 19th-century coffee…

  • Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña

    Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña

    Ponce

    This spacious pink villa designed by Juan Bertoli Calderoni, father of Puerto Rico’s neoclassical style, offers one of Ponce’s best museum experiences. A…

  • La Guancha Paseo Tablado

    La Guancha Paseo Tablado

    Ponce

    Commonly known as ‘La Guancha,’ this rebuilt public boardwalk is around 3 miles south of the city center near the relatively lonely Ponce Hilton and the…

  • Museo de la Historia de Ponce

    Museo de la Historia de Ponce

    Ponce

    Ponce's history museum is extensive for a city of fewer than 200,0000 people – evidence of the city’s reverence for the past. Located in the Casa Salazar …

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