It doesn’t really compare with the hilltop cross in Rio de Janeiro, but the 100ft reinforced-concrete Cruceta del Vigía looking over Ponce is one of the city’s more reliable points of orientation and offers a cracking view from its upper levels. During the 19th century the site was used by lookouts for the Spanish Crown, watching for signs of smuggling along the coast. Today it shares grounds with a Japanese garden, included in the admission price.
El Vigía
Ponce
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
23.97 MILES
The St Christopher canyon is so unexpected – both in location and appearance – that it takes many a breath away. The deep green chasm seemingly drops out…
24.27 MILES
Puerto Ricans reverently refer to it as ‘El Radar’; to everyone else it is simply the largest radio telescope in the world. Resembling a spaceship…
13.86 MILES
San Pedro is a small working coffee farm with an attached museum and cafe/tasting room where you can get a fascinating insight into the coffee-making…
1.05 MILES
Brush Strokes in Flight, a bold primary-colored totem by American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, announces the smartly remodeled MAP, where an expertly…
9.53 MILES
Despite suffering considerable damage in Hurricane Maria, the Pomarrosa still provides one of the best opportunities in Puerto Rico to discover what…
28.05 MILES
This small, squat building might not look like much from the outside, but it is actually one of the oldest surviving ecclesial buildings in the Americas…
0.63 MILES
Within this elegant square you’ll discover Ponce's heart as well as two of the city’s landmark buildings, Parque de Bombas and Catedral Nuestra Señora…
26.15 MILES
The once-glittering waters of Bahía de Fosforescente remain by far La Parguera’s biggest draw, but the environmental impact of boat tours and developments…
Nearby Ponce attractions
0.01 MILES
On the same property as the mammoth El Vigía, Museo Castillo Serrallés was the home of Ponce’s rum dynasty, the Serrallés family. Guides lead bilingual…
2. Panteón Nacional Román Baldorio de Castro
0.27 MILES
A fraction north of the city center, in the shadow of El Vigía, Ponce's city cemetery is a grand mid-19th-century conglomeration of – unusually – both…
0.51 MILES
Perhaps the most grand of Ponce’s historical homes, this mansion was designed by Paris-educated ponceño architect Alfredo Wiechers. The carefully…
4. Catedral Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
0.62 MILES
The twin bell towers of this striking cathedral and local landmark cast an impression of noble piety over Ponce's Plaza Las Delicias. The cathedral…
0.62 MILES
Ponceños (people from Ponce) claim that the eye-popping Parque de Bombas is Puerto Rico’s most frequently photographed building, which is not too hard to…
0.63 MILES
Within this elegant square you’ll discover Ponce's heart as well as two of the city’s landmark buildings, Parque de Bombas and Catedral Nuestra Señora…
0.65 MILES
A lovely fountain in the middle of the Plaza Las Delicias – a survivor from the 1939 World Fair.
0.67 MILES
Facing the southern side of Plaza Las Delicias, Ponce’s city hall was built in the 1840s. The last public hanging on the island happened in its courtyard,…