Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Doría and Francisco Gardon in
the 1930s and built on the site of
a building that was destroyed in
the 1918 earthquake. Rising over
Plaza Las Delicias, the white and
duck-egg-blue church honors the
city's patron saint, the Virgin of
Guadalupe. The interior boasts
stained glass windows, a
grandiose alabaster altar, and a
huge pipe organ installed in
1934.
d
Map F5 • Plaza Las Delicias,
Ponce • Open 6am-1:30pm Mon-Fri,
6am-noon & 3-8:30pm Sat-Sun
Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes
!
Centro Ceremonial
Indígena de Tibes
This pre-Columbian site in the
hills north of Ponce was only
unearthed in 1975, when
floodwaters revealed the Taíno
ruins. Guides take visitors on
tours that lead past 12
bateyes
-
ceremonial ball courts - as well
as petroglyphs and an ancient
cemetery. The site was inhabited
by the Igneri, a pre-Taíno tribe,
and artifacts of both cultures are
exhibited in a museum here,
which shows a 30-minute video
and displays an adult skeleton in
the fetal position
(see pp22-3)
.
@
Museo de Arte de Ponce
$
Bosque Estatal de Guánica
Guánica State Forest
protects acres of dry deciduous
forest spanning the east and
west shores of Bahía Guánica.
Its mosaic of habitats comprises
moist and shady ravines and
exposed ridges, and the flora and
fauna is replete with mangrove
swamps. Spanish moss and
mistletoe festoon tree branches,
and agaves and cacti pierce the
sun-baked soils. More than
100 bird species flit among the
branches, thimble-size frogs hop
around underfoot, iguanas scurry
about the leaf litter, and marine
turtles lay their eggs in pristine
sands. The forest has 36 miles
(58 km) of trails.
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Map D6
More than 3,000 works of
art by European masters and
well-known painters from North
and South America, along with
Puerto Rican art spanning three
centuries, are displayed at this
spectacular museum. Works by
Rodin, Delacroix, Gainsborough,
and Puerto Rico's foremost
artists are among the permanent
displays, but the museum is
most famous for Lord Frederic
Leighton's eye-catching
Flaming
June
(see pp26-7)
.
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Catedral de Nuestra
Señora de la Guadalupe
This grand cathedral, with its
striking, twin-spired, Neo-
Classical facade, was designed
by architects Francisco Porrata
Hiking at Bosque Estatal de Guánica
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