Plaza Degetau

Plaza Degetau

Plaza Degetau, one of two main plazas at Plaza Las Delicias
Type Municipal Plaza and Urban park
Location Ponce, Puerto Rico
Coordinates 18°00′42″N 66°36′52″W / 18.01167°N 66.61444°W / 18.01167; -66.61444
Area 1.1 acres (0.45 ha)
Created 1670[1]
Operated by Autonomous Municipality of Ponce
Visitors over 200,000[2]
Status Opened all year, 24 hours/day

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 square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains. The historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are located bordering the north side of this plaza. The square is the center of the Ponce Historic Zone, and it is flanked by the historic Ponce City Hall to the south, the Cathedral and historic firehouse to the north, the NRHP-listed Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño and Banco de Ponce buildings to the east, and the Armstrong-Poventud Residence to the west. The square dates back to the early Spanish settlement in Ponce of 1670. It is the main tourist attraction of the city, receiving about a quarter of a million visitors per year.[3]

History

Plaza Las Delicias circa 1890s, before it was renamed to Plaza Degetau

According to the traditional Spanish colonial custom, a town's main square, or plaza, was the center of the town. In the case of Ponce, a Catholic church was built on the center of the plaza, thus splitting the plaza into two sections.[4] Plaza Degetau is the southern of the two sections, with the other plaza, Plaza Muñoz Rivera, located to the north of Plaza Federico Degetau. Plaza Degetau measures a little over half of 8,800 square meters.[5]

The history of Plaza Degetau dates back to as far as the creation of the first Catholic chapel in Ponce in 1670.[6] It is also known that around 1840 Mayor Salvador de Vives planted trees as a renovation project for plaza.[7] It was first lit in 1864.[8] The Plaza, as it stands today, was designed by architect Francisco Porrata-Doria in 1914.[9]

In addition to the Cathedral and the firehouse, Plaza Degetau at one point also contained an open dining Moorish-style Arab kiosk that had been part of the 1882 Fair Exposition.[10] The kiosk was still present at the time of the American invasion of the island in 1898 as reported by American photo-journalist William Dinwiddie,[11] but it was demolished in 1914.[12]

Name

Diagram of Plaza Las Delicias. The upper (north/red) section is the Plaza Luis Muñoz Rivera while the lower (south/blue) section is the Plaza Federico Degetau.

Legend:
1. Cathedral Nuestra Señora de la Guadalupe
2. Parque de Bombas
3. Lions Fountain
4. Statue of Luis Muñoz Rivera
5. Statue of Juan Morel Campos
6. Statue of Domingo Cruz "Cocolia"
7. Obelisk to "El Polvorin" Firemen
8. Statue of Blind Justice
9. Statue of woman with children, "Añoranzas"
10 & 11. Large Fountains

Plaza Degetau was originally called Antigua Plaza Real (Old Royal Plaza),[13] and later, Plaza Mayor (Main Plaza).[14] In the early 20th century its named was officially changed to Plaza Federico Degetau, in honor of Federico Degetau, the first Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico to the United States House of Representatives.

Features

The Lions Fountain on Plaza Degetau

Plaza Degetau is perhaps the best known of the two plazas and the one most often seen in pictures. In the center of this plaza lies the famous Fuente de los Leones (Lions Fountain). The large, round-shaped fountain is bounded by a low, marble and granite wall. The fountain's wall boundary is shaped in the form of a regular octagon and built so that one of the vertices of the octagon points towards the historic Ponce City Hall. The fountain also features four lion statues and water that flows under colored lighting effects. The four lion statues are located one statue on each alternating vertex of the fountain's octagonal boundary wall. The fountain was purchased in 1939 at the New York World's Fair.[15] The fountain, including a mechanical basement, was remodeled and restored in 1993. Its base was enlarged and a computerized lighting system was installed.[16]

This plaza also features a statue of native composer Juan Morel Campos. This statue was also produced at the workshop of Italian sculptor Luiggi Tomassi.[17] Also in this plaza is an obelisk in honor of the firefighters that fought in the "Polvorín" fire (see Parque de Bombas). The obelisk was unveiled in 1948, in time for the 50th anniversary of the frightful fire.[18] There is also a statue, called Blind Justice, of a woman in a long dress with her eyes covered by a cloth wrapped around the top of her head. The woman's left hand holds a sword inside a shaft resting on the ground and there are two children sitting happily by her feet: one is embracing the lower part of the shaft, the other is playing with an orange tree branch.

Setting

Plaza Degetau is bounded on the north by the Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral and the historic Parque de Bombas firehouse, on the south by Plaza Degetau street (also called Villa street and Comercio street), on the west by Union street, and on the east by Marina street. It is surrounded by two hotels, the Ponce City Hall, two historic banks (Banco de Ponce and Banco Crédito), a long-standing ice cream parlor called "King's Ice Cream", and various boutiques and cafes.[19]

The Plaza has wide mosaic-tile sidewalks, well-manicured flower gardens, well-trimmed bushes and Indian laurel trees, late 1800s lamposts, and numerous marble benches. It is home to the Lions Fountain, "one of the most beautiful fountains in Puerto Rico."[20] The fountain is made of marble and bronze. During the day, the plaza hustles with schoolchildren, shoppers, and tourists. After the sun sets, there are oftentimes live bands giving concerts to "multigenerational families."[21]

References

  1. ↑ Caminata Guiada: Centro Historico de Ponce
  2. ↑ Based on the documented number of visitors at the nearby Serralles Castle (See).
  3. ↑ Based on the documented number of visitors at the nearby Serralles Castle (See).
  4. ↑ Plaza Las Delicias. Ponce > Ciudad Senorial > Atracciones Turisticas. Official Website of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  5. ↑ Ramon Marin. Las Fiestas Populares de Ponce. Page 200.
  6. ↑ Doris Vazquez. Spain in Puerto Rico: Early Settlements. The Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. 1986. Retrieved November 22, 2009.
  7. ↑ By Guillermo A. Baralt. Buena Vista: life and work on a Puerto Rican hacienda, 1833-1904. Page 12.
  8. ↑ Salsa, sabor y control!: sociología de la música "tropical". Ángel G. Quintero Rivera.
  9. ↑ Architecture of Parish Churches in Puerto Rico. Page 184. Thomas S. Marvel and María Luisa Moreno. University of Puerto Rico. 1993. Retrieved January 8, 2011.
  10. ↑ 1882-1914 Kiosk
  11. ↑ Puerto Rico: its conditions and possibilities. William Dinwiddie. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1899. Page 189.
  12. ↑ Las fiestas populares de Ponce. Page 23. Ramón Marín. 1994. University of Puerto Rico Press. Accessed 19 February 2011.
  13. ↑ Plaza Las Delicias. Ponce > Ciudad Senorial > Atracciones Turisticas. Official Website of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  14. ↑ Luis Fortuno Janeiro. Album Historico de Ponce (1692-1963). Page 12. 1963. Imprenta Fortuno. Ponce, Puerto Rico.
  15. ↑ Explore Puerto Rico. By Harry S. Pariser. Page 243.
  16. ↑ Explore Puerto Rico. By Harry S. Pariser. Page 243.
  17. ↑ Ponce, the Lordly City: Tourist Attractions.
  18. ↑ Ponce Municipality of Ponce. Walking Tour: Plaza de las Delicias.
  19. ↑ Frommer's Puerto Rico: Day-by-day. By John Marino. First Edition. Wiley Publishing. 2010. Page 89.
  20. ↑ Frommer's Puerto Rico: Day-by-day. By John Marino. First Edition. Wiley Publishing. 2010. Page 89.
  21. ↑ Puerto Rico. By Suzanne Van Atten. Second Edition, September 2009. Page 106.

Coordinates: 18°00′40.75″N 66°36′50.15″W / 18.0113194°N 66.6139306°W / 18.0113194; -66.6139306

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