Ponce (Puerto Rico)

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Ponce is the fourth largest city in Puerto Rico to San Juan, with around 166,000 inhabitants. It is located in the south of the island.

It is located a few kilometers from the Caribbean coast. The nickname Ponce is Ciudad de los Leones, La Perla del Sur ( City of Lions, Pearl of the South ). It is named after Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the great grandson of Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León.

In 1883 Ponce was hit by a major fire, except for the southern part was very much destroyed. Here in 1937 occurred the massacre of Ponce, were shot at the unarmed nationalists during a celebration for the 64th anniversary of the abolition of slavery by the police.

With the opening of the Holiday Inn hotels in the 1960 's, tourism made ​​its entry in Ponce.

In October 1985 129 people died in a mudslide in the region Mameyes. With international assistance, including from European countries, the emergency could be alleviated.

The highest mountain in Puerto Rico, Cerro de Punta is situated at the Municipality of Ponce. Ponce is home to the Museo de Arte de Ponce, the most important museum in Puerto Rico. Ponce is the seat of the Leones de Ponce basketball team ( eleven times national champion ). Ponce has a domestic airport, the Mercedita Airport. Mayor Francisco Zayas Seijo is (PPD). Ponce is headquarters of the Serralles distillery ( brand Don Q and Captain Morgan ).

Sons and daughters of the town

  • José Torres, the former world champion boxer
  • Carlos Ortiz, former world boxing champion
  • Héctor Campos Parsi, composer
  • Ednita Nazario, singer
  • Héctor Lavoe, singer
  • Luis A. Ferré, Pedro Rosselló and Rafael Hernández Colón, former Governors
  • Roy Rosselló, a member of the boy band Menudo
  • Isolina Ferré, Catholic nun awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
  • Horacio Rivero Jr., four-star admiral in the United States Navy
  • Felix Serralles, race car driver

The parents of the two musicians Eddie and Charlie Palmierie emigrated from here in 1926 to New York City.

Education

The University of Puerto Rico, where it maintains since 1970 the only campus in the southern part of the island ( University of Puerto Rico at Ponce - UPRP ). This derives from the Colegio Universitario Tecnológico de Ponce. Currently, this study 2,318 people. In addition, there are inter alia the following educational institutions: Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico and the Ponce School of Medicine.

Federal Information Processing Standards Ponce massacre Leones de Ponce (baseball) Carlos Ortíz Eddie Palmieri
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