Editing Puerto Rico (section)

===Architecture===
{{Main|Architecture of Puerto Rico}}
The architecture of Puerto Rico demonstrates a broad variety of traditions, styles and national influences accumulated over four centuries of Spanish rule, and a century of American rule. [[Spanish colonial architecture]], [[Islamic architecture|Ibero-Islamic]], [[art deco]], [[Post-modern architecture|post-modern]], and many other architectural forms are visible throughout the island. From town to town, there are also many regional distinctions.

[[File:The Colors of Old San Juan (28488284470).jpg|thumb|Street-lined homes in [[Old San Juan]]]]

Old San Juan is one of the two ''barrios'', in addition to [[Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico|Santurce]], that made up the [[municipality]] of San Juan from 1864 to 1951, at which time the former independent municipality of [[Río Piedras]] was annexed. With its abundance of shops, historic places, museums, open air cafés, restaurants, gracious homes, tree-shaded plazas, and its old beauty and architectonical peculiarity, Old San Juan is a main spot for local and internal tourism. The district is also characterized by numerous public plazas and churches including [[San José Church]] and the [[Catedral Metropolitana Basílica de San Juan Bautista (San Juan, Puerto Rico)|Cathedral of San Juan Bautista]], which contains the tomb of the Spanish explorer [[Juan Ponce de León]]. It also houses the oldest Catholic school for elementary education in Puerto Rico, the Colegio de Párvulos, built in 1865.

The oldest parts of the district of Old San Juan remain partly enclosed by massive walls. Several defensive structures and notable [[fort]]s, such as the emblematic [[Fort San Felipe del Morro]], [[Castillo San Cristóbal (San Juan)|Fort San Cristóbal]], and [[El Palacio de Santa Catalina]], also known as [[La Fortaleza]], acted as the primary defenses of the settlement which was subjected to numerous attacks. [[La Fortaleza]] continues to serve also as the executive mansion for the [[governor of Puerto Rico]]. Many of the historic fortifications are part of [[San Juan National Historic Site]].

During the 1940s, sections of Old San Juan fell into disrepair, and many renovation plans were suggested in the following decades and into the present.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-28 |title=In Old San Juan, History Is Being Run Over |url=https://globalpressjournal.com/americas/puerto-rico/old-san-juan-history-is-being-run-over/ |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=Global Press Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> There was even a strong push to develop Old San Juan as a "small [[Manhattan]]". Strict remodeling codes were implemented to prevent new constructions from affecting the common colonial Spanish architectural themes of the old city. When a project proposal suggested that the old Carmelite Convent in San Juan be demolished to erect a new hotel, the Institute had the building declared as a historic building, and then asked that it be converted to a hotel in a renewed facility. This was what became the ''Hotel El Convento'' in Old San Juan. The paradigm to reconstruct and renovate the old city and revitalize it has been followed by other cities in the Americas, particularly [[Havana]], [[Lima]] and [[Cartagena de Indias]].

[[File:Parque de Bombas - Ponce Puerto Rico.jpg|thumb|[[Parque de Bombas]], a landmark of [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]], a former fire station built in 1882]]
[[Ponce Creole]] is a unique [[architectural style]] created in [[Ponce, Puerto Rico]], in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This style of Puerto Rican buildings is found predominantly in residential homes in Ponce that developed between 1895 and 1920. Ponce Creole architecture borrows heavily from the traditions of France, Spain and the Caribbean vernacular to create houses that were especially built to withstand the hot and dry climate of the region, and to take advantage of the sun and sea breezes characteristic of the southern Puerto Rico's [[Caribbean Sea]] coast.<ref>{{cite book|author=Randall Peffer|title=Puerto Rico, a Travel Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MjXG2vg5YFsC&pg=PA225|year=2002|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74059-274-1|page=225}}</ref> It is a blend of wood and masonry, incorporating architectural elements of other styles, from [[Classical revival]] and [[Spanish Revival]] to [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/articles/1056puerto_rico.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302194306/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/articles/1056puerto_rico.html|title=National Geographic Traveler Article: Puerto Rico|archive-date=2 March 2010|website=www.nationalgeographic.com}}</ref>