3 Best Sights in Guayama, Ponce and the Porta Caribe

Built for sugar, cattle, and coffee baron Genaro Cautiño Vázquez and his wife, Genoveva Insúa, Casa Cautiño is an elegant neoclassical home dating from 1887. The painstakingly restored exterior features a balcony with ornate grillwork. You'll be swept back in time walking through the rooms, which are filled with the original Victorian-era furnishings. Don't miss the modern-for-its-time bathroom, complete with a standing shower. The museum is on the main square.

Just a few blocks from the main square, the Centro de Bellas Artes is housed in a beautifully restored neoclassical building. Paintings by local artists fill its 11 rooms.

One of the prettiest churches on the southern coast, Iglesia San Antonio de Padua was begun in 1827, but not completed until 40 years later. Don't set your watch by the time on the clock; the hand-painted face is frozen at the time the church was "baptized." The bells in the tower were cast in gold and bronze in 1835. Mass is still held here, but visitors can come by any time.