Inventory of Historic Churches of Puerto Rico
The Inventory of Historic Churches of Puerto Rico is a thematic historic register of Roman Catholic church buildings in Puerto Rico curated by both the Puerto Rico Planning Board's Register of Historic Sites and Zones and the United States National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places, submitted to the latter as a thematic multiple property submission and approved on December 10, 1984. These churches were chosen for being exemplary of the Spanish Colonial urban planning practices of the 18th and 19th centuries as it was legally stipulated by the Law of the Indies.
Inventory-listed churches
All the churches on the inventory were also added to the Puerto Rico Register of Historic Sites and Zones. Out of the 31 churches listed on the inventory, the submission of 24 were approved and listed on the federal National Register of Historic Places.Other historic churches
Other historic Roman Catholic churches that also follow the relevant Law of the Indies parameters and have also been included in the National Register of Historic Places and/or the Puerto Rico Register of Historic Sites and Zones albeit not under this multiple property submission include:- Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the town parish of Arroyo built in 1855 and listed as a contributing property of the Arroyo Historic Zone on the RNSZH in 1997.
- Cathedral of the Sweet Name of Jesus, the cathedral of Caguas built in 1645 and listed as a contributing property of the Caguas Historic Zone on the RNSZH in 1996.
- San Antonio de Padua Church, the town parish of Guayama built in 1874, inscribed on the NRHP in 1976 and, as part of the Guayama Historic Zone, on the RNSZH in 1992.
- San Pedro Mártir Church, the town parish of Guaynabo built in 1750, and listed on the NRHP since 1976 and on the RNSZH since 2000.
- Basilica of the Our Lady of Monserrat, the town parish church of Hormigueros built in the 19th-century, a Marian shrine since 1994 and a minor basilica since 1998, inscribed on the NRHP in 1975, and on the RNSZH in 2000.
- Church of the Holy Spirit and Saint Patrick, the town parish church of Loíza built in 1729, and listed on the NRHP in 1976 and on the RNSZ since 2000.
- Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, the town parish of Naguabo built in 1856, and listed on the NRHP in 1984, and on the RNSZ since 2003.
- Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Saint John the Baptist, the cathedral of San Juan, the first purpose-built cathedral in the Americas, technically built in 1535 before the establishment of the Law of the Indies and therefore not located in the main town square of the city. Listed as a contributing property of the Old San Juan National Historic Landmark District on the NRHP since 1972, and on the RNSZH since 2000.
- Las Mercedes Church, the town parish of San Lorenzo built in 1887, and listed on the NRHP since 1983, and on the RNSZ since 2000.
- San Pedro Apostol Church, the town parish of Toa Baja built in 1750, and listed on the NRHP since 1975, and on the RNSZH since 2000.
- Church of the Holy Rosary, the town parish of Yauco built in 1930 on the site of the former parish built in 1849, and listed as a contributing property of the Yauco Historic Zone on the RNSZH in 2022.