Sights in Mayagüez
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A
Teatro Yagüez
The beautiful Teatro Yagüez would be an architectural icon in any European capital, let alone quiescent Mayagüez, a city that sometimes struggles to assert its understated cultural identity. Dubbed the ‘Cathedral of Sonorous Art’ by enamored locals, the building was the brainchild of Francisco Maymón, the son of Italian immigrants who was an early pioneer of silent movies in Puerto Rico at the beginning of the 20th century. Maymón inaugurated his first theater in 1909, an opulent neobaroque structure that was filled with Italian ceilings and tiles imported from Spain. Hosting opera, orchestral concerts, silent movies and plays, it rapidly became the font of polite societ…
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B
Estación Experimental Agrícola Federal
Strolling is an attraction at the Estación Experimental Agrícola Federal, the tropical agricultural research station of the US Department of Agriculture. and in the adjacent city park known as Parque de los Próceres. These grounds lie just southeast of the RUM campus. At the agricultural station you will see plantations of yams, plantains, bananas, cassavas and other tropical ‘cash crops’ as researchers evaluate new hybrids and species introduced to the island (including a cinnamon tree from Sri Lanka). The gardens have one of the largest collections of tropical plants in the world known to have beneficial effects on human health. The Parque de los Próceres, on the so…
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C
Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria
Consecrated in 1760, the city's original Catholic church was replaced by the current model in 1836. The cathedral suffered many blows over the subsequent 100 years, culminating in the 1918 earthquake which destroyed its ceiling, and a lightning bolt that toppled one of its bell towers. Ambitious renovation plans were drawn up by architect Luis Perocier in 1922, but due to lack of funds they were never truly realized. The full refurbishment wasn't actually completed until 2004.
The cathedral now sparkles afresh and survives as one of Puerto Rico's most evocative ecclesial monuments with gilded scenes from the life of Christ behind the altar.
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D
Zoo
The only serious zoo in Puerto Rico is just to the northeast of the university, off Hwy 108, in the same neighborhood as the agricultural research station and city park. Here you can see some 300 species of reptiles, birds, amphibians and mammals moving around in habitats somewhat similar to what they would have in the wild. Refurbished a couple of years ago, the zoo’s still not exactly on the cutting edge, but it has done a lot to get away from steel cages.
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E
University
Over 12,000 students are enrolled at this university in a host of disciplines. Over the years, RUM has become the premier math and science campus of the University of Puerto Rico system and boasts internationally respected programs in agriculture and engineering, as well as in the physical and biological sciences. The campus lies just out of town off Calle Post (Hwy 2).
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F
Parque de los Próceres
Strolling is an attraction at the city park known as Parque de los Próceres. These grounds lie just southeast of the RUM campus. The Parque de los Próceres, on the south side of Hwy 65, has more verdant walkways.
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