[ Casa Alcaldía de Ponce ]

[ Casa Alcaldía de Ponce ]

City halls
City hall
Façades
Façade
Town halls
Town hall

Casa Alcaldía - Ponce
1881
Colección J P Camy

"By 1848, the population of the settlement at Ponce had grown sufficiently to merit recognition as a city by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The construction of the City Hall coincides with this decree, thus qualifying the building as a landmark to the founding of Ponce. As the first governmental structure, of the city, the building incorporates, elements designed to display its authoritative role. In fact, the design is contemporary to the 1848 addition to the Royal Palace (La Fortaleza) of San Juan and displays defensive, military characteristics, such as the buttressed street wall, similar to those of the Fortaleza. Most importantly, the vocabulary utilized is purely "Neoclásico Isabelino" of the Spanish 19th century, representative of the works performed by the Royal Corps of Engineers of Spain and satisfying the demands of the growing aristocratic population of Ponce. According to the Laws of the Indies, established in the 16th century to regulate the colonization of towns in the Americas, a settlement was to be planned around a central plaza, with the Holy Catholic church facing westward and the town hall or "Cabildo" (seat of government power) either opposite or adjacent, emphasizing the major and joint role of the church and state in Hispanic society. Located at the southern fringe of the plaza, at the center of the block between Calle Marina and Calle Cristina, the City Hall dominates the street wall between buildings of similar character and demonstrates faithfully the Spanish concept of the urban plaza. Although the interior has been altered during the 20th century in response to the growing needs of the municipal government, the exterior has maintained its individual and contextual integrity. Along with the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Guadalupe, in the town plaza, the City Hall forms an essential element of the urban concept of Plaza in Ponce, a Spanish-Colonial town flourishing during the 19th century". --Description from United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National, Register of Historic Places, Casa Alcaldía de Ponce (City Hall).

J. P. Camy

University of Puerto Rico (Río Piedras Campus). School of Architecture Library.

2022-02-28

© Copyright 2018. University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, School of Architecture Library, All Rights Reserved.

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Ponce, Puerto Rico

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4 x 5 inches or less