Mercado de las Carnes
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Mercado de las Carnes
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Main entrance to Ponce's Historic Meat Market
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 Location of Ponce and the mercado in Puerto Rico
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| Location | Alley connecting Mayor and Leon Streets, Ponce, Puerto Rico |
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| Coordinates | 18°00′56″N 66°36′46″W / 18.015477°N 66.612878°WCoordinates: 18°00′56″N 66°36′46″W / 18.015477°N 66.612878°W |
| Area | 942 square metres (10,140 sq ft) |
| Built | 1926 |
| Architect | Rafael Carmoega |
| Architectural style | Art Deco, Neo-mudejar |
| NRHP Reference # | 86003199 |
| Added to NRHP | November 17, 1986 |
Mercado de las Carnes (English: Meat Market), also known as La Plaza de los Perros (English: Dogs' Plaza), but formally, Plaza Juan Ponce de León (Juan Ponce de León Plaza), was the first building in Puerto Rico to mix social and architectural elements via the pedestrian mall concept. The historic Art Deco architecture structure is located in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and dates from 1926. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The Plaza was rebuilt in 1992, under the administration of Mayor Churumba. It is located in the alley connecting Mayor and Leon streets, in the block between Estrella and Guadalupe streets. The Plaza and the alley are one and the same.
Ponce's Plaza de los Perros (English: Plaza of the Dogs), receives its name from the packs of stray dogs that gathered there to feed on the discarded meat scraps. A product of the rapid urban growth experienced in the city during the early 20th century, the Plaza was built in 1926 to relieve the overcrowded farmer's market ("Plaza del Mercado") and provide an adequate market place for perishable meat products.
Located across the street from the old Plaza del Mercado (Farmer's Market) the Plaza de los Perros serves as an urbanistic and commercial compliment to the market place. Occupying a long, narrow lot, previously belonging to two back-to-back structures, the meat market connects two of Ponce's busiest commercial streets, Mayor and Leon, providing mid-block circulation to the main market by means of the pedestrian mall concept so popular today. Of significance is the adaptation of such innovative concepts to traditional social and architectural elements (the farmers' market and Moorish detailing), representing the contemporary modernistic trends in architecture. The double-function of such a traditional space was an innovation in Ponce and in Puerto Rico as a whole.
Of great importance is that the building's design bears the signature of Rafael Carmoega, one of the most established Puerto Rican architects of the 20th century. A graduate of the Cornell University School of Architecture and subsequent director of the Architectural division of Puerto Rico's Department of the Interior, Carmoega also designed the Capitol Building, the University of Puerto Rico Main Campus at Rio Piedras, the School of Tropical Medicine, and the Mayaguez City Hall, all listed on the National Register, in addition to other significant buildings. In his interest to preserve Hispanic traditions in the wake of the recent change of sovereignty from Spain to the United States, Carmoega utilized the Spanish Baroque and Neo-Mudejar vocabularies in his designs, emphasizing the use of glazed, mosaic tiles in many buildings. The Plaza de los Perros is a fine example of this latter style, incorporating glazed mosaics, horseshoe arches, and galleries in a mosque-like space for commercial usage.
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