What's happening? The barrio Asomante, in the mountains of Aibonito, has a new tourist attraction. El Reloj de Puerto Rico, one of the few large-scale floral clocks in the world, opened to the public last Thursday.
The structure belongs to Jardín de Jeanny, a commercial garden owned by the couple Eduardo and Jeanny Ibarra, who drew inspiration from a floral clock in Canada.
The Mexican company Relojes Centenarios, which has been operating since 1918, and engineer Luis Alberto Olivera Cárdenas, along with Puerto Rican contractor Juan Reyes, oversaw the project.
What sets it apart
There are at least 10 large-scale floral clocks in the world. El Reloj de Puerto Rico, however, has certain features that distinguish it from the rest.
According to owner Eduardo Ibarra, speaking during one of the tours he offers the public, one difference is that El Reloj de Puerto Rico has a second hand. Few clocks of this kind in the world include that feature, as it involves a somewhat more complicated system to operate.
The clock also sits at an 18-degree tilt, pointing toward Brazil and New York, and plays melodies such as "La Borinqueña" at noon and "México lindo y querido" at 6:00 p.m., through a bell system. That last feature will rotate: every three months, visitors will hear different melodies from the clock.
Among future plans, the couple behind the clock hopes to make it the first of its kind to run on solar panels.
A behind-the-scenes look
If you want to see how a floral clock works, you're in luck. In these first days since opening, the owners have been offering short tours in and inside the structure.
At the back of the clock is the machine room, where visitors can observe all the components that keep the clock running, including a programmable logic controller that regulates the chimes on the hour.
For everyone to enjoy
There is much more to explore at El Reloj de Puerto Rico, which is shaping up as the next stop on your bucket list. You can visit every day from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and admission is free.
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
