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Dean’s Message
Since its origins and until the 1st half of the XX Century, the city of Ponce (second largest city of Puerto
Rico) was known by many names such as:
•
The Capital for the South (
due to its location and also its size and its crucial role in the political
and commercial island’s activity
)
•
The Creole Capital (
due to the fact that it was not perceive as loyal to the Spanish Crown as San
Juan was
)
•
The Caribbean Capital (
due to its location on the Caribbean Sea shore and it’s port, which then
rivaled with the Capital’s City port
)
All these many titles were well deserved, since back then Ponce was a great urban contender in Puerto
Rico. Its’ bustling port was Puerto Rico’s preferred door to the Caribbean, renowned by its immense
cultural diversity. This unique commercial exchange with the Caribbean Basin Countries also paved the
way for a fluid cultural exchange. By the end of the XIX Century many people coming from all parts of
the Caribbean moved to live in Ponce bringing with them their cultural backgrounds and creating a
culturally rich and diverse urban society. Soon these new communities, which had their own particular
Faiths, commenced the construction of their own temples responding to their religious’ doctrines and
rituals. The City landscape was peppered by an important amount of beautiful religious buildings, all
of them different, each of them responding to different creed requirements.
Today, due to the conditions described above, Ponce’s collection of “buildings for worship” from all
sort of religious convictions, is unique in Puerto Rico and probably in all the Caribbean Region. MYSTIC
PONCE was an Initiative of our School, under the leadership of Prof. Pilarín Ferrer-Viscasillas with the
idea of researching and making available to the public these beautiful City Temples. We all had the
experience to walkthrough, admire and appreciate these splendid buildings, giving us a glimpse of
what was a beautiful, prosperous and diverse past.
Luis V. Badillo Lozano
, Dhc, M.Arch, AIA, CAAPPR
Dean