Architecture in Puerto Rico

Architecture in Puerto Rico demonstrates a broad variety of styles, trends and forms over the history of the archipelago over four centuries of Spanish rule, and over a century of American rule. Puerto Rican architecture is as diverse as its multicultural society, and has been shaped by many internal and external factors and regional distinctions. Beginning with the early encounter between the indigenous Taino and Spanish colonizers in the last decade of the 15th century, throughout its history Puerto Rico has witnessed both the applications of European and American styles of architecture and the development of local vernacular styles that today form a part of the Puerto Rican society and identity.