San German, Puerto Rico, the Real Deal

History preserved for the 21st Century

San German lies between Ponce and Mayaguez off Hwy 2 via Hwy 122.
Its also in the Southwest part of the island as mentioned in my last post.

San German (pronounced Her-mon) is commonly referred to as the 2nd oldest town in PR. The locals would like to argue the point, but like the original settlement at Caparra which had to be abandoned because of attacks, so was the original town site of San German. Records date the establishment of San German on the Bay of Añasco to 1506. Through A Spanish decree in 1514, the island was divided between Puerto Rico (later renamed San Juan) and San German establishing two separate governing regions.

In September of 1531, Empress Isabel of Portugal allocated substantial funds for the Dominican Priests to build a monastery at this 1st location. This set the stage for a convent and school to follow. After several brutal attacks by the French and Caribe indians, the towns folk had no choice, but to relocate inland to its current hill-side site in 1570. In 1609, the Dominican Priests were back with a more rustic, primitive structure at the new town site.

Santo Domingo de Porta Coeli

The Bishop granted a license in 1692 to re-found the convent and school. Schools were very rare during this time period, it was the pride of the Southwest region. Later on, the school was upgraded to include both elementary and higher education. The monastery fell into decline after 1812 when ‘Religious Orders’ were abolished. It was completely abandoned by 1841 and formally demolished in 1874. The Augustines returned to San German to set up a new mission in 1901, after the US claimed Puerto Rico for it’s own in 1898. A lot of hard work went into restoring the old Santo Domingo de Porta Coeli” convent. The mission grew and thrived thereafter. A new church was added- ‘San German de Auxerre’ as well as a hospital.

San German is the only town in PR with two Plazas and two churches (on the plazas) thanks to the Dominican Priests.

Unfortunately, the convent suffered major damage from a storm in 1948 that left it in ruin again. Unable to raise funds to fix it, the Bishop donated it to the state.
It was eventually restored and turned into a museum by the  Institute of Puerto Rican Culture in the late 1950’s.

Tours are free, but only Wednesday through Sunday. I was there on a Tuesday. Yes, I will be back to shoot the inside of the restored convent.

We parked down below the ‘Porta Coeli’ and walked up through a small park to the main steps of the restored convent. From the top of the steps there is a good view over the first plaza. It is up hill to the 2nd plaza and the San German de Auxerre church. Not a bad little trek.

Located between the two plazas is the “OFICINA DE TURISMO”. It’s a pale yellow 2 story building. If you go upstairs to the tourism office, they will set you up with a guide and all the literature

you’ll need. About half the handouts are in Spanish including the cool walking map of San German. They speak English as well as Spanish and they really were a friendly bunch of folks.

BTW– You can always spot the Mayor’s Office (usually on the plaza) by all the WiFi antenna standing off it.  Its a popular spot for the locals to hang out and ‘surf the Web’ from their NetBooks or iPads.  That’s because there are next to NO public libraries in Puerto Rico.  Lots of basketball courts, just no libraries.

The architecture of San German is old, but not shabby and much more varied than in Old San Juan.

It feels more colonial, more natural. There are examples of English, French and Spanish influences everywhere you go. Many of it’s structures are on the U. S. Register of Historic Places. There is even an old railroad station that used to handle traffic from as far away as San Juan via Mayaguez. That service ended in 1953… I was less than a year old, back then. It must have been an outrageous ride.

If you like shooting classic buildings, ruins and local color, San German is prime for the picking. Another great detour/side trip if you have the time.

You’ll never regret it.