Guayama

Guayama grew on sugar money in the nineteenth century and the plaza reflects it: a large square with the church of San Antonio de Padua on one side and neoclassical houses around it, kept in better condition than in most southern towns. The Casa Cautiño, built in 1887 for a landowning family, is open as a museum with its original furniture, fittings and decorative painting intact, which is unusual; most such houses were emptied long ago.

History

The town was founded on 29 January 1736 as San Antonio de Padua de Guayama by Governor Matías de Abadía, and its name comes from a Taíno cacique of the south-east coast. A fire on 11 April 1832 burned 57 houses and 9 huts and the town was rebuilt on a strict grid; Patillas had split off in 1811, and Arroyo followed in 1855 (Wikipedia, Guayama, Puerto Rico).

What you'll find

• Casa Cautiño - an 1887 house museum with its original furniture and fittings.
• The plaza - a large square with neoclassical buildings around it.
• The church - San Antonio de Padua on the plaza's northern side.
• The sugar-era architecture - nineteenth-century houses through the centre.

When to go

December to April is the drier season and the most comfortable; the south coast is hot in summer. The museum keeps set hours and closes on some days. Mornings are quietest.

Good to know

The museum is small and takes forty minutes. Much of the town outside the plaza is ordinary. The south coast heat is severe from May onward.

Nearby

Salinas is west along the coast, and Central Aguirre is nearby.

Key facts