tibes indian ceremonial center

The Ceremonial Center has a small museum that defines the known history of the tribes who lived in the ceremonial area over many years. The museum is small, but enjoyable to view and very informative.A guide who speaks English and Spanish takes small groups of visitors to the ceremonial grounds and along the way explains about the vegetation, trees, etc. I found it most interesting to learn how people from many years ago used plants and fruits, and bark to promote health and healing. There has been much digging in hopes of finding clues to enhance the understanding of the people who originally lived in the area. The findings have been a surprise in that history goes back farther than anyone expected. There are the remains of huts, walls, and ceremonial grounds. Our guide was excellent and very knowledgeable. Our visit was interesting, stimulating, and very informative. We highly recommend a visit.

I learned a lot on my visit to this center. I didn't know there were other Indians before the Taínos who lived in PR before Columbus arrived. Very interesting.

I visited here with a tour group while staying in the Ponce area. I was looking forward to visiting this center as I enjoy history and Indian culture. Our group viewed a film and also spent a short time in the small museum looking at the exhibits, which included artifacts from the area as well as a human skeleton unearthed here. We then enjoyed a walking tour through the archaeological site and were given information as to how the Tainos Indians lived. There were a few replica huts to view as well as ceremonial rimmed with bordering stones and ball courts. It was interesting to find out that this site is relatively new, as its historical value was unknown until a tropical storm which hit the area in 1975 caused flooding that revealed the evidence. This was really as much of a nature walk as a historical walk. We saw a variety of birds, lizards, Iguanas (look for them in the trees by the river and bridge) and interesting trees and plants, including the national tree of Puerto Rico, the Ceiba or Silk Cotton tree. This tree which grows to be very large has a trunk in the earliest stages that is covered with sharp thorns. We also saw the Higuera or gourd tree which is used for bowls or containers, the soursop tree (a type of fruit) and the Flor de Maga tree which has the national flower of Puerto Rico and resembles the hibiscus flower. Another interesting sight were the large termite mounds located in the trees. Our guide from the Center did a very good job of bringing history alive here. I would recommend a visit to this unique and important historical place which is located only a few miles from Ponce.

Yous will find this difficult to locate but there are signs off the main roads. We eventually had to ask for directions as the signs stopped as soon as you turned onto a local road! Butit is worth persevering. It costs very little ($3 with concessions). The attached museum is good and it is helpful to visit that first. Websites and reviews talk about having to take a guided tour. Whilst this would be informative t's not compulsory. We just wandered round the site on our own. You need to visualise what it would have been like, but it is good to see things of pre-history.The site was only discovered in the mid70s after a flood unearthed some stones. Quite lucky: if it had been found earlier than doubtless everything would have been lost (ie used for building materials etc).It is closed on Monday, but is open on Sundays

Nice park with stone plaza, botanicals and guided tour. An interesting archeological site with knowledgeable guides.

The facility closes at 3PM, but get there by 2PM if you want the guided tour. Nice museum with lots of information. The best part was a 40 min. guided walk onto the ball grounds and village site. The guide was exceptionally knowledgeable on history and plants.

Just north of the city of Ponce is the Tibes museum and ceremonial site. There is a small museum that gives the visitor an incite into the tribe and tribal life in the area. Just outside the building is a small bridge leading to replicas of the village and numerous ancient sport fields. The area is quite beautiful with paths and numerous types of native trees. We spent an hour here and found the paths easy to walk so it's very handicap friendly.

Not easy to find but well worth the visit. The guide at the site was able to answer a variety of questions and was very personable.

The best place to see in Ponce and learn about the Taino culture. There are artifacts, burrials, and the ceremonial center itself.

First, let me say that Tibes is HARD to find! Use a GPS and don't go by the Ponce maps that are passed out everywhere downtown. The entry is $3 and you pay when you enter to park. There's a little museum with some exhibits and placards that tell the history of Puerto Rico, and then you watch a short video. Your guide then takes you outside for the tour, which is about an hour. It was really interesting to learn about the history of Ponce and the early inhabitants of the island. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes, lots of bug spray, and bring a bottle of water.

This little museum, which is out of the way in Ponce, is a fantastic little museum about indiginous culture in Puerto Rico. The museum, while small, has great artifacts and lots of good information about the early people of the island. Our curator, Walter, was very knowledgable and friendly. Though the tour of the archealogical dig area was primarily in Spanish, he took time with us individually to translate his talk and answer our questions, and he was super hospitable.That said, this is a small facility and if you are not necessarily into this type of activity, it may not be for you. But the walk from the museum through the dig area was very nice, easy to do, and pretty.

We visited the Tibes Ceremonial Center and were fascinated with the historic place. There's a $3 fee with parking included. There's a very small museum, a short film and a site visit. We learned much about indians, pre-tainos and tainos. We visited the place were they carried out their everyday life, which was amazing. We rediscovered out roots. It was a great learning experience.

It is a bit of a museum more than the actual thing but the Arawak Indians really invented Soccer and Rock 'n' Roll!!

I visited the Tibes Ceremonial Center when my daughter came for vacations and she wanted to visit the Indian Center. At first, I wasn't even sure if this still existed, but lucky for us it did. I remember going on a school trip back in the day when I was young. The Museum was interesting and it had a lot considering the size of the building. We watched the video and we toured the grounds with our guide. He was a very interesting and knowledgeable person and we enjoyed our tour immensely. The only bad thing was there were no places to get a bite to eat inside the site or nearby. So we had to leave when we got hungry!

A few of this are located around the island been Tibet in Ponce and one in Utuado the only one open to the public. Close to Tibet while constructing water reservoir Portugues another one was found and one in Mayaguez with a Dolphin draw on the rock plus one in the north close to Arecibo. Suddenly this important pieces of the Taino culture get lost in space and the rock are flying into USA museum to be evaluated... yea right.