#1 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Plaza of Delights (Plaza de las Delicias)
Ponce
~0.04 miles from Ponce city center
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#2 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Cathedral of our Lady of Guadeloupe
Ponce
~0.09 miles from Ponce city center
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La Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is the heart of Puerto Vallarta religious life, and is the focal point of an elaborate 12-day festival each December. The structure itself was built during a 12-year period beginning in 1929. The interior is filled with hand-carved columns, decorative moldings and other rich detailing. An earthquake damaged the ornate crown that originally adorned the church. It was replaced, but the repair still creates controversy. The original crown is said to have been modeled after a tiara worn by the mistress of the Emperor Maximilian.
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#3 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Parque de Bombas
Ponce
~0.10 miles from Ponce city center
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#4 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Downtown Ponce (Neighborhood)
Ponce
~0.10 miles from Ponce city center
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#5 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Museum of Puerto Rico Music
Ponce
~0.15 miles from Ponce city center
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#6 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Teatro la Perla
Ponce
~0.24 miles from Ponce city center
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#7 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
El Museo Castillo Serralles
Ponce
~0.56 miles from Ponce city center
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Two miles (3.2km) north of the center of town is the largest and most imposing building in Ponce, constructed high on El Vigía Hill during the 1930s by the Serrallés family, owners of a local rum distillery. One of the architectural gems of Puerto Rico, it is the best evidence of the wealth produced by the turn-of-the-20th-century sugar boom. Guides will escort you through the Spanish Revival house with Moorish and Andalusian details. Highlights include panoramic courtyards, a baronial dining room, a small cafe and souvenir shop, and a series of photographs showing the tons of earth that were brought in for the construction of the terraced gardens, a beautiful place to sit outside the castle that overlooks the city.
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#8 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Museo de Arte de Ponce
Ponce
~0.66 miles from Ponce city center
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#9 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
El Vigia Hill
Ponce
~0.75 miles from Ponce city center
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Cruceta El Vigia (El Vigia Cross) is a 100-foot-tall cross located atop Vigia Hill in Ponce, Puerto Rico, directly in front of the Serralles Castle museum. It houses a tourist center at its base, a 10 story vertical tower, and a horizontal sky bridge that has panoramic views of the city of Ponce and the Caribbean sea. Visitors can reach the skybridge via glass elevators or a stair case.
One of many landmarks of the city of Ponce, the cross is owned by the Municipality of Ponce and is currently operated by the "Patronato de Ponce", a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and administrating several of the city's landmarks.
The cross sits at the same spot on Vigia Hill where early Spanish settlers once looked out for merchant ships and would-be invaders, including marauding pirates. In 1801, the settlers built a much smaller cross made of two intersecting tree trunks where an observer would constantly watch the sea and the city's port, raising different flags to either notify local merchants of incoming trade ships or alert military authorities of possible threats (a replica of this wooden cross now sits behind the current monument). The Vigia Hill also served as a refugee camp for citizens during a storm on September 12, 1738, an earthquake on May 10, 1787, a tsunami on November 18, 1867, and the United States invasion on July 25, 1898.
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#10 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Tibes Indian Ceremonial Center
Ponce
~2.03 miles from Ponce city center
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#11 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
La Guancha
Ponce
~3.17 miles from Ponce city center
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#12 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Hacienda Buena Vista
Puerto Rico
~5.68 miles from Ponce city center
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#13 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Toro Negro Reserve
Puerto Rico
~10.90 miles from Ponce city center
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#14 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Guanica Dry Forest Reserve
Puerto Rico
~15.09 miles from Ponce city center
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#15 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Gilligan's Island
Guanica
~17.90 miles from Ponce city center
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#16 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Parque Ceremonial Indigena de Caguana
Puerto Rico
~21.32 miles from Ponce city center
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#17 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
La Coca Falls
Puerto Rico
~23.47 miles from Ponce city center
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#18 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
San Cristobal Canyon
Puerto Rico
~24.53 miles from Ponce city center
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#19 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Arecibo Observatory
Puerto Rico
~24.71 miles from Ponce city center
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#20 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Rio Camuy Cave Park (Parque de las Cavernas del Rio Camuy)
Puerto Rico
~26.85 miles from Ponce city center
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#21 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Church of Porta Coeli
San German
~28.51 miles from Ponce city center
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Porta Coeli ("Gateway to Heaven") Convent church, or El Convento de Santo Domingo de Porta Coeli in Spanish, is one of the oldest church structures in the western hemisphere located in San German, Puerto Rico.
In 1609, the Dominican Order built the Convento de Porta Coeli at the crest of a hill in what is now San Germán Historic District. During the 18th century the Convento was reconstructed and a church built next to it. The single nave church was constructed of rubble masonry with stucco surfaced walls and a wood truss roof.[2]
It was restored by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and now houses the Museo de Arte Religioso, a museum of religious paintings and wooden carvings dating back from the 18th and 19th centuries. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as "Convento de Porta Coeli" in 1976.
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#22 of 22 Things To Do in Ponce
Bioluminescent Bay
Lajas
~29.69 miles from Ponce city center
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The Bioluminescent Bay (or "Bio Bay" as it is sometimes called), is perhaps the world's largest and brightest. The luminescence is caused by micro-organisms (dinoflagellates) which glow whenever the water is disturbed, leaving a trail of neon blue. A combination of factors create the necessary conditions for bioluminescence: red mangrove trees surround the water (the organisms feed off the dead leaves); a complete lack of modern development around the bay; the water is cool enough and deep enough; and a small channel to the ocean keeps the dinoflagellates in the bay. This small channel is the result of Spanish ships' attempts to choke off the bay from the ocean's waters. The Spanish believed that the bioluminescence they first encountered was the work of the Devil ('El Diablo') and tried to block the ocean's waters from entering the bay by dropping huge boulders in the channel. The Spanish only succeeded in preserving and increasing the luminescence. Kayaking is permitted in the bay and can be arranged through local vendors. Swimming is no longer allowed to protect the micro-organisms.
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