Caparra Archaeological Site
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| Caparra | |
|---|---|
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| U.S. National Historic Landmark | |
 Ruins of Juan Ponce de Leon's residence at Caparra
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| Location: | Guaynabo, Puerto Rico |
| Governing body: | Private |
| Added to NRHP: | February 28, 1984[1] |
| Designated NHL: | April 19, 1994[2] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 84003155[2] |
Caparra is an archaeological site in the municipality of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. It was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1994.[2][3]
At the time of the designation in 1994, it was stated:
Caparra Site contains the intact archeological remains of the first capital of Puerto Rico, the oldest known European community under United States authority. Caparra was founded by Juan Ponce de Leon, the first governor of the island, in 1508, and was abandoned in 1521 with the removal of the capital to San Juan.[2]
[edit] History
In 1508, Juan Ponce de León founded the original Spanish settlement on Puerto Rico at Caparra (named after the province Caceres, Spain, the birthplace of then-governor of Spain's Caribbean territories Nicolás de Ovando),[4] which today is known as the Pueblo Viejo sector of Guaynabo, just to the west of the present San Juan metropolitan area. A year later, the settlement was moved to a site then called Puerto Rico, Spanish for "rich port" or "good port", after its similar geographical features to the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands.[5] In 1521, the newer settlement was given its formal name, San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico, in honor of John the Baptist, following the tradition of christening the town with both its formal name and the name which Christopher Columbus had originally given the island.
[edit] References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-06-23. http://www.nr.nps.gov/.
- ^ a b c d "Caparra". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1881&ResourceType=Site. Retrieved on 2008-06-23.
- ^ Note: A National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination document should be available upon request from the National Park Service for this site, but it appears not to be available on-line from the NPS Focus search site.
- ^ "Guaynabo -- Encyclopædia Britannica" (with history of Puerto Rico),Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006, Britannica.com webpage:EB-Guaynabo-Puerto-Rico:names: Caparra, the first Spanish settlement of Puerto Rico (1508).
- ^ "Historic places in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands". National Park Service. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nR/travel/prvi/pr27.htm. Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
[edit] External links
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