Plaza Degetau

Plaza Degetau
Plaza Degetau, one of two main plazas at Plaza Las Delicias
Type	plaza, urban park
Location	Ponce, Puerto Rico
Coordinates	18°00′42″N 66°36′52″W / 18.01167°N 66.61444°W / 18.01167; -66.61444
Area	1.1 acres (0.45 ha)
Created	1670
Operated by	Autonomous Municipality of Ponce
Visitors	over 200,000
Status	Opened all year, 24 hours/day

Plaza Degetau, formally Plaza Federico Degetau, is the larger of two plazas at Plaza Las Delicias, the main city square in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The other plaza is named Plaza Muñoz Rivera and is located north of Plaza Degetau. The square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains. The historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are located bordering the north side of this plaza. The square is the center of the Ponce Historic Zone, and it is flanked by the historic Ponce City Hall to the south, the Cathedral and historic firehouse to the north, the NRHP-listed Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño and Banco de Ponce buildings to the east, and the Armstrong-Poventud Residence to the west. The square dates back to the early Spanish settlement in Ponce of 1670. It is the main tourist attraction of the city, receiving about a quarter of a million visitors per year.

According to the traditional Spanish colonial custom, a town's main square, or plaza, was the center of the town. In the case of Ponce, a Catholic church was built on the center of the plaza, thus splitting the plaza into two sections. Plaza Degetau is the southern of the two sections, with the other plaza, Plaza Muñoz Rivera, located to the north of Plaza Federico Degetau. Plaza Degetau measures a little over half of 8,800 square meters.