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53-406: Portugués Rural or, more commonly, simply Portugués ( Barrio Portugués ), is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico . Along with Magueyes , Tibes , Montes Llanos , Maragüez , Machuelo Arriba , Sabanetas , and Cerrillos , Portugués is one of the municipality's eight rural interior barrios. It was founded in 1831. Portugués is a mountainous rural barrio located in

106-492: A distinct character from other areas (as in the barrios of Buenos Aires , even if they have been superseded by larger administrative divisions). The word does not have a special socioeconomic connotation unless it is used in contrast to the centro (city center or downtown). The expression barrio cerrado (translated "closed neighborhood") is used to describe small upper-class residential settlements planned with an exclusive criterion and often physically enclosed in walls, that is,

159-409: A kind of gated community . In Colombia , the term is used to describe any urban area neighborhood whose geographical limits are determined locally. The term can be used to refer to all classes within society. The term barrio de invasión or comuna is more often used to refer to shanty towns, but the term "barrio" has a more general use. [1] In Cuba , El Salvador and Spain , the term barrio

212-619: A little over 2 kilometers northeast of the city known as the Quintana Baths. The masonry building that house the baths still exists on the northbound side of Puerto Rico Highway 503 in Barrio Portugues. The name Hato de Portugués has been traced back to the Puerto Rico General Registry of Lands of November 1800. Hatos were holdings of large tracts of lands dedicated to cattle raising. They were

265-429: A quadrangular plaza are distributed throughout the site. Five of the ball courts are rectangular, consisting of two parallel lines of flat stones and open at both ends. The remaining two ball courts are U-shaped, bounded on each side by a walk paved with flat river cobbles and boulders . Another major feature of the site is a series of triangular stone arrangements surrounding a flat excavated area. The main feature of

318-475: A region that came to be known as Ponce, but which today is part of a neighboring municipality. In 1824, Barrio Portugues appears for the first time in a list of the barrios of Ponce produced by Pedro Tomás de Córdova, and to whom we owe the first such listing of 497 barrios in the town that existed at the time. However, the name Barrio Portugues does not show up in records of the municipality of Ponce until September 1821. In 1822, Barrio Portugues appears as one of

371-746: A tourist attraction which was opened to the public on 30 April 1982. Artifacts found on the site are on display and can be seen in a museum on the site and at the Ponce Museum of Art . It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on 14 April 1978 and on the Puerto Rico Register of Historic Sites and Zones on May 16, 2001. It is known as the Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes . The Centro Ceremonial Indigena at Tibes, Ponce, Puerto Rico,

424-706: Is bounded in the North by Monte Llano , in the South by Portugues Urbano and Machuelo Arriba , in the West by Tibes and Magueyes , and in the East by Monte Llano and Machuelo Arriba . Río Portugués and the great Ceiba tree near the center of Ponce have long been associated with the first settlers of the region. During the 17th century the River marked the eastern boundary of a growing settlement than ran as far as Guayanilla Bay,

477-413: Is bounded on the North by the hills north of Pandura Road, on the South by Camino de Ponce (Golf Club) Street, Majagua Street, Arboleda Street, and PR-504, on the West by Turell Road, La Zarza Road, PR-10 (roughly), and on the East by PR-505, the hills west of Río Bayagán , the eastern slopes of El Gato Hill ( Cerro El Gato ) and First Street ( Calle 1 ). In terms of barrio-to-barrio boundaries, Portugués

530-763: Is home to the Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center discovered in 1975 after hurricane rains uncovered pottery . The center is the site of the oldest cemetery uncovered up to date in the Antilles. "With some 200 skeletons unearthed from the year AD300, it is considered the largest and the most important archaeological find in the West Indies." The communities of Villa Elena, Nuevo Mameyes, and El Señorial are located in this barrio of Ponce. Major roads serving Barrio Portugués are PR-9 , PR-10 , PR-503 , PR-504 , and PR-588 . It also includes

583-419: Is more, as time passed this unofficial name of the river was accidentally used to refer to the hato in that area, and thus, to today's Barrio Portugues." Portugués has 3.52 square miles (9.1 km) of land area and 0.04 square miles (100,000 m) of water surface area. Its land area is three percent of the territory of the municipality of Ponce. It is thus the 15th largest of Ponce's 31 barrios. In 2000,

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636-506: Is now known as "Centro Ceremonial Indigena de Tibes" (The Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center). The fields varied in size from 12.8 meters (42 ft) long by 10.9 meters (35.8 ft) wide to 35.1 meters (115 ft) long by 9.3 meters (30.5 ft) wide. According to archeologists, the ball parks and ceremonial centers were built by the Igneri Culture, a Pre-Taíno tribe which inhabited the island. Modern technology tells us that

689-413: Is some instances the ball courts intrude into them, indicating that the site was occupied for an extended period of time with a gradual evolution into a ceremonial center. A number of test pits have been excavated to establish an absolute and relative chronology as well as to define the potential for the site. These indicate that the site was originally occupied by the earliest agricultural immigrants into

742-478: Is still widely used interchangeably with barangay . Both may refer to rural settlements or urban municipal districts (the latter formerly known as visitas ). It is alternatively spelled as baryo , though the preferred spelling is the Spanish one (barrio). In the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico , the term barrio is an official government designation used to denote a subdivision of a municipio and denotes

795-473: Is the oldest astronomical observatory in the Caribbean. The Taínos had their own culture, customs and governing structure. Besides using the fields for ball playing, they would also use the plazas to celebrate the " Areyto " which was a celebration consisting of telling an oral history told by singing and dancing accompanied by music. Most of the knowledge and information that we have about the traditions of

848-557: Is used officially to denote a subdivision of a municipio (or municipality); each barrio is subdivided into sectors ( sectores ). In the Philippines , the term barrio may refer to a rural village, but it may also denote a self-governing community subdivision within a rural or urban area anywhere in the country. A 1974 decree replaced the word barrio with barangay , the basic administrative unit of government, possessing an average population of 2,500 people. Barrio , however,

901-691: Is used to refer to inner-city areas overwhelmingly inhabited by first-generation Spanish-speaking immigrant families who have not been assimilated into the mainstream American culture. Some examples of this include Spanish Harlem in New York City, East L.A. in Los Angeles; and Segundo Barrio in Houston. Some of these neighborhoods are simply referred to as just "El Barrio" by the locals, as opposed to using their actual names (Spanish Harlem, East L.A., Segundo Barrio, etc.). In Venezuela and

954-568: The Dominican Republic , the term is commonly used to describe slums in the outer rims of big cities such as Caracas and Santo Domingo as well as lower- and middle-class neighborhoods in other cities and towns. Over the centuries, selectness in the Spanish Empire evolved as a mosaic of the various barrios , surrounding the central administrative areas. As they matured, the barrios functionally and symbolically reproduced

1007-550: The greater Antilles , the Igneri. Radiocarbon dates and pottery analyses have revealed a continuous period of occupation between 400 AD and 1000 AD The last inhabitants of the site were presumably the Taínos. The Taínos who inhabited Puerto Rico before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493, played a series of games which were both ceremonial and recreational, such as races, contests involving body strength and fishing. However,

1060-683: The Guaynia Society of Archaeology and History at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico , members of the Archaeological Society of the Southwest, announced the discovery of the ruins of a "Batey" in barrio Tibes , on the northern outskirts of the city of Ponce . A total of 9 ball fields were discovered buried under thick forest overgrowth, dating back to AD 25 in the area which

1113-543: The Igneri and the rest from the pre-Taíno cultures. Based on the orientation of the ceremonial plazas, this is also believed to be the oldest astronomical observatory in the Antilles. The museum was established in 1982 and restored in 1991. The Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center is one of the largest and most significant indigenous sites in the Caribbean islands, and is the largest ceremonial site in Puerto Rico. The continuous occupation from Igneri to Taíno times,

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1166-447: The Taínos came about the personal observations and historical documentations of Fray Bartolomé de las Casas. Fray Bartolomé de las Casas described an "Areyto" in the following manner: "And on this island what I could understand was that their songs which they call "areytos", were their history passed from person to person, fathers to sons from the present to the future, as here uniting many Indians... passing three or four hours or more until

1219-493: The area was populated in 25 AD and that the Igneri abandoned the area in 600 AD for some unknown reason or reasons. The Taínos populated the same area in 1000 AD. According to archaeologist Osvaldo Garcia Goyco, there is evidence that some of the plazas are oriented in relation to the equinox and solstices of the four seasons of the year. This is not unusual since the Taínos cultivated their crops in accordance to their astrological observations. The Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center

1272-408: The ball stopped moving. The score was kept with a mark on the ground and the game would end after the losing team received a certain number of points. The winners were treated like heroes and the losers were sacrificed. The game had changed by the time the first Spanish settlers arrived. According to Fray Bartolomé de las Casas the game was played in the following manner: "One team served the ball and

1325-434: The barrios of the settlement with a listing of names of people responsible for the supervision of the barrios of the municipality. In 1878 Manuel Ubeda y Delgado reported that in Barrio Portugues there were 155 families residing in 33 houses and 100 bohios . Portugues was then the seventh least populated of the 22 barrios then established in the municipality. The same author reports the existence of some thermal baths in an area

1378-432: The basic territorial units in Puerto Rico in until the late 19th century. The name, however, may in fact be much older. Towards the end of the 16th century, even before the birth of the village of Ponce, Don Pedro Rodríguez de Guzmán established a small community and a store on the banks of Río Baramaya . Rodríguez, one of the first settlers of what is known as Ponce today, is the original Portugués. Some sources state he

1431-401: The boundaries of the ceremonial center, in what is considered to be the largest indigenous cemetery in the region. Most of the remains were from the Igneri Culture and DNA samples have been taken from the remains for further studies. Information such as the ceremonies, eating habits, ceramic styles and much more has been provided from these remains and from the excavations. The site is now

1484-530: The central section of the municipality, north of the city of Ponce. The Río Chiquito watershed runs along the middle of this barrio. Such geographic feature determines its form: it is long from north to south, and narrow from east to west. In a similar manner, the Río Portugués watershed runs alongside the neighboring barrio Tibes , immediately to the east of Barrio Portugues, and Rio Portugues enters Barrio Portugues on its southernmost region. Portugués

1537-436: The changes in sociopolitical organization which may have gone along with the changes evidenced in the material culture. The site also lends itself to the study of problems relating to extra-Antillean influences on the Caribbean. The evidence from the site indicates that possible influences from Mesoamerica , e.g. the ball game, are in evidence in Puerto Rico as early as 700 A.D. The presence of shell middens and refuse heaps at

1590-468: The city and in some way tended to replicate it. The barrio reproduced the city through providing occupational, social, physical and spiritual space. With the emergence of an enlarged merchant class, some barrios were able to support a wide range of economic levels. This led to new patterns of social class distribution throughout the city. Those who could afford to locate in and around the central plazas relocated. The poor and marginal groups still occupied

1643-512: The city, e.g., one might make shoes, while another made cheese. Integration of daily life could also be seen in the religious sector, where a parish and a convento might serve one or more neighborhoods. The mosaic formed by the barrios and the colonial center continued until the period of independence in Mexico and Latin America . The general urban pattern was one where the old central plaza

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1696-401: The community of Río Chiquito. The salsa song "La Parranda Fania" by Hector Lavoe (Fania Records, 2012) says "De Ponce hasta Comerio, nos vamos pa' Rio Chiquito..." (From Ponce to Comerio, we head to Rio Chiquito...) Barrio In Argentina and Uruguay , a barrio is a division of a municipality officially delineated by the local authority at a later time, and it sometimes keeps

1749-455: The events, witnessed by Angleria, four men died and many others were injured in the space of one hour. The contest would come to an end only if the Cacique gave the ending signal. The ball game, called "Batey", was played in the ceremonial ball court, which they also called a " Batey ", situated in the middle of the village. The fields were either shaped like a triangle or like a "U". The ball

1802-408: The government's lowest level and geographically smallest officially recognized administrative unit. A barrio in Puerto Rico is not vested with political authority. It may or may not be further subdivided into sectors, communities, urbanizaciones , or a combination of these, but such further subdivisions, though popular and common, are unofficial In the mainland United States , the term barrio

1855-509: The mines. Many died because of this harsh treatment, and also because of the introduction to diseases such as smallpox to the island by the Spaniards. However, before the Taíno tribes ceased to exist in Puerto Rico, Spanish historians such as Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, were able to witness and record the life and customs of these people. The continued restoration of Tibes by archaeologists

1908-648: The most important archaeological discoveries made in the Antilles . The discovery provides an insight as to how the indigenous tribes of the Igneri and Taínos lived and played during and before the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the New World. Tibes is the oldest Antillean Indian ceremonial and sports complex yet uncovered in Puerto Rico. Within its boundaries is also the largest indigenous cemetery discovered to date – consisting of 186 human skeletons, most from

1961-404: The other team returned it, using anything but the hands. If the ball arrived at shoulder height, it was returned like lightning. When it came in near the ground, the player rapidly hit the ground, striking the ball with his buttocks. Play continued from side to side until an error was made. The site was discovered in 1975 in the aftermath of Hurricane Eloise . In that year, archaeologists from

2014-507: The population of Barrio Portugués was 4,882 persons, and it had a density of 1,387 persons per square mile. Barrio Portugues' population saw little change between 1990 and 2000. In 2010, the population of Portugués was 4,134 persons, and it had a density of 1,167.8 persons per square mile. The highest point in Barrio Portugués stands at 1,735 feet. Another notable land feature is Cerro El Gato which stands at 827 feet. Portugues

2067-403: The presence of the large stone constructions, the presence of shell middens and stratified deposits, all afford an opportunity to investigate some of the major substantive and theoretical problems in Caribbean archeology. Besides lending itself to the traditional problems of culture, history and chronology, the site provides the ideal setting for the study of the cultural processes responsible for

2120-402: The site is the nearly quadrangular enclosure which has been called a plaza. It is bounded on two sides by a walk paved with flat stones while the other two sides are defined with flat slabs. Many of the stones surrounding the plaza bear petroglyphs . The terrain within the ball courts and plaza have been artificially modified. Several shell middens are scattered irregularly throughout the site and

2173-446: The site will afford an opportunity to study subsistence patterns as well as possibly some information on the paleo-environment. The burials and associated grave goods will provide an insight into social, religious, ceremonial/symbolic systems of these occupants, as well as provide information on prehistoric demographic patterns, nutrition, disease and other prehistoric population characteristics. Over 186 human remains were found within

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2226-502: The social, cultural and functional attributes of the past. The few surviving barrios do so with a loss of traditional meaning. For most of them the word has become a descriptive category or a generic definition. Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center The Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center ( Spanish : Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes ) in Sector La Vega de Taní, Barrio Tibes , Ponce , Puerto Rico , houses one of

2279-470: The space needs of local craftsman and the shelter needs of the working class. At times they were designed to meet municipal norms, but they usually responded to functional requirements of the users. Barrios were built over centuries of sociocultural interaction within urban space. In Mexico and in other Latin American countries with strong heritages of colonial centers, the concept of barrio no longer contains

2332-504: The spaces at the city's edge. The desire on the part of the sector popular to replicate a barrio was expressed through the diversity of the populace and functions and the tendency to form social hierarchies and to maintain social control. The limits to replication were mainly social. Any particular barrio could not easily expand its borders into other barrios , nor could it easily export its particular social identity to others. Different barrios provided different products and services to

2385-413: The teacher or guide of the dance finished the history, and sometimes they went from one day to the next." When the Spaniards arrived on the island one of their first actions was to forcibly convert the Taínos into Christianity. They considered the ceremonial and religious practices of the Taínos as uncivilized and a form of paganism . The Taínos were enslaved and forced to build fortifications and to work

2438-417: The transition from Igneri to Taíno cultural manifestation. There has been some controversy in the literature as to whether there was a direct unilinear, in situ , transition from one to the other or whether the two manifestations actually represent two different groups. The data at this site can contribute significantly to the resolution of this research problem, as well as to other basic questions pertaining to

2491-463: The two most important of these sports were the simulated warrior fights (similar to the gladiators ) and ball playing. According to the eyewitness account of Spanish historian Pedro Martir de Angleria, the body strength games were played in front of the whole village in the presence of the "Cacique" (Chief) and in some occasions an invited guest. Two teams would fight with bows and arrows in defense of their possessions as if they were enemies. In one of

2544-407: Was called Batu and made of rubber and vegetable leaves, which gave it flexibility. Two teams played against each other. One team to the west and the other to the east. The fathers and sons played on the opposite teams. The objective of the game was to keep the ball in constant motion. The players were allowed to use their heads, elbows, shoulders and knees. The team would lose a point, if for any reason

2597-399: Was designated for collective uses, such as farming or grazing. This practice of peripheral land expansion laid the groundwork for later suburbanization by immigrants from outside the region and by real estate agents. At the edge of Hispanic American colonial cities there were places where work, trade, social interaction and symbolic spiritual life occurred. These barrios were created to meet

2650-575: Was discovered during the days after heavy rain downpours. The survey was conducted by the Sociedad Guaynia de Arqueologia e Historia and was sponsored by the Puerto Rico Institute of Culture . Clearing the area's high brush revealed a number of shell middens, as well as the major features of the site which were the carefully laid out stone constructions traditionally referred to as ball courts. A total of seven ball courts and

2703-472: Was from Portugal, other sources state he was from San German but of Portuguese ancestry . According to historian Rafael Torrech San Inocencio, "the store of Rodríguez de Guzmán, a.k.a. “El Portugués” ("The Portuguese"), was located on the banks of Río Baramaya, possibly at a crossing, that is, at a place where it was possible to cross the river, whether afoot or on horseback, with relative ease. River crossings are very old place names, for during those years it

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2756-482: Was important to find a place to cross a river, and...many of the names of barrios and municipalities in Puerto Rico originated with such old river crossings. It is possible that as the years passed the fame of the Portugues Crossing faded away, and the names of the crossing and of the river were exchanged in everyday conversation, and folks started to call Río Portugues what was really Rio Baramaya. And, what

2809-459: Was surrounded by an intermediate ring of barrios and emerging suburban areas linking the city to the hinterland. The general governance of the city was in the hands of a mayor and city councilors. Public posts were purchased and funds given to the local government and the royal bureaucracy. Fairness and equity were not high on the list of public interests. Lands located on the periphery were given to individuals by local authorities, even if this land

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