Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer and conquistador known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and serving as the first governor of Puerto Rico. He was born in Santervás de Campos, Valladolid, Spain, in 1474. Though little is known about his family, he was of noble birth and served in the Spanish military from a young age. He first came to the Americas as a "gentleman volunteer" with Christopher Columbus's second expedition in 1493.
Castillo San Felipe del Morro, also known as El Morro, is a citadel built between 16th and 18th centuries in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Old San Juan is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the islet of San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Catedral, Marina, Mercado, San Cristóbal, and San Francisco sub-barrios (sub-districts) of barrio San Juan Antiguo in the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Old San Juan is the oldest settlement within Puerto Rico and the historic colonial district of the city of San Juan. This historic district is a National Historic Landmark District and is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places as the Old San Juan Historic District. Several historical buildings and structures, particularly La Fortaleza, the city walls, and El Morro and San Cristóbal castles, have been inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list since 1983. Historically the mixed use commercial and residential real estate in the main streets like Cristo Street, Fortaleza Street (north) from Tanca Street to the Governor’s Mansion is the most valuable in the area and it has kept its value and increased steadily through several years despite the past economic turmoils.
Agüeybaná was the principal and most powerful cacique (chief) of the Taíno people in "Borikén" when the Spanish first arrived on the island on November 19, 1493.
Puerta de Tierra is a subbarrio (subdistrict) occupying the eastern portion of the Islet of San Juan and the barrio of San Juan Antiguo in the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The name Puerta de Tierra derives from the former eastern gated entrance to the walled city of San Juan where Plaza Colón is today. With a population of 2,924 as of 2010, this is the most populated area of San Juan Antiguo. On October 15, 2019, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, to be included with the Old San Juan Historic District.
The culture of Puerto Rico is the result of a number of international and indigenous influences, both past and present. Modern cultural manifestations showcase the island's rich history and help to create an identity which is uniquely Puerto Rican - Taíno, Spanish, African, and North American.
The Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is the cathedral for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ponce located in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico. The cathedral lies in the middle of Ponce's town square, known as Plaza Las Delicias, located at the center of the Ponce Historic Zone. For its historic significance, the cathedral was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It is the seat of the Bishop of Ponce, currently Rubén González Medina.
Heinrich Klumb was a German architect who worked in Puerto Rico during the mid 20th Century.
The University of Puerto Rico School of Law is a law school in Puerto Rico. It is one of the professional graduate schools of University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus and the only law school in the University of Puerto Rico System. It was founded in 1913 at its present site in Río Piedras, which at the time was an independent municipality and is now part of the City of San Juan. The School of Law has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1945 and by the Association of American Law Schools since 1948.
Residencia Armstrong-Poventud is a historic building located in the Ponce Historic Zone in Ponce, Puerto Rico, across from the Catedral Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. The construction of this home set the stage for the construction of other homes of similar architectural elements, character and opulence in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Ponce. The architectural style is collectively known as Ponce Creole. The home was designed and built by Manuel Víctor Domenech for the Armstrong-Poventud family. It is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as the Armstrong-Toro House, and is also known as the Casa de las Cariatides. In 1991, the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña turned the house into a museum, which it manages.
The Jose V. Toledo Federal Building and United States Courthouse is a historic post office and courthouse located at Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is a courthouse for the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. It is also the site for oral argument before the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, when that court sits in Puerto Rico.
The Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña is a museum in Ponce, Puerto Rico, that showcases the development of Puerto Rican music, with displays of Taíno, Spanish, and African musical instruments that were played in the romantic danza genre, the favorite music of 19th-century Puerto Rican high society, as well as the more African-inspired bomba and plena styles. Also on display are memorabilia of composers and performers. The Museum traces the rich musical history of Puerto Rico through memorabilia of prominent musicians and displays of the musical instruments associated with the three genres of music that originated in this Caribbean island.
The Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad 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 materials sent by Queen Victoria's government, including a bell cast in England in 1870. Located at the intersection of Marina, Mayor, and Abolicion streets, it was the first Anglican church built on the island. Holy Trinity was still the only Protestant church in Puerto Rico at the time of the United States invasion in 1898.
The Primera Iglesia Metodista Unida de Ponce was the first structure erected in Puerto Rico by the celebrated architect Antonin Nechodoma. Constructed in 1907, the building houses a Methodist congregation and is located on Villa street in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the city's historic district. The structure was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on 29 October 1987.
The Antiguo Cuartel Militar Español de Ponce or "El Castillo" is the only structure directly related to the events of the land defense of Puerto Rico during the 1898 American invasion of the Island. The historic building dates from 1894 and is located on Calle Castillo in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the city's historic district. The structure was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on 14 May 1987.
The Antiguo Hospital Militar Español de Ponce is a historic building in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the city's historic district. The building dates from 1896 or 1897. It was designed by the Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers. The architecture consists of 19th Neoclassical architecture style. The building is of architectural significance since it is the only one-story building of this style remaining in the city of Ponce and one of the best examples on the Island. Completed in 1897, the year before the Spanish–American War of 1898, this building was the last major construction undergone by the Spanish Government in the Americas. From 1905 to the mid 1970s the structure served as the Asilo de Ciegos de Ponce. It currently (2020) sits abandoned.
Ponce Creole is an architectural style created in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the late 19th and early 20th century. This style of Puerto Rican buildings is found predominantly in residential homes in Ponce that developed between 1895 and 1920. Ponce Creole architecture borrows heavily from the traditions of the French, the Spaniards, and the Caribbean to create houses that were especially built to withstand the hot and dry climate of the region, and to take advantage of the sun and sea breezes characteristic of the southern Puerto Rico's Caribbean Sea coast. It is a blend of wood and masonry, incorporating architectural elements of other styles, from Spanish Revival to Victorian.
Beatriz del Cueto is a Cuban-born architect specialising in conservation and architectural preservation. A resident of Puerto Rico since 1960, del Cueto is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and Henry Klumb Award winner in 2012.
Pedro Adolfo de Castro (1895–1936) was a twentieth-century architect from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
