The Cathedral of Rum in

Cataño, Puerto Rico Cataño () is a Cataño barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northeastern coastal plain of Puerto Rico. It is west of the capital San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, east of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, Toa Baja, nor ...

is the world's largest

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

. The

Bacardi Bacardi Limited ( , , ) is the largest privately held, family-owned spirits company in the world. Originally known for its Bacardí brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 by Facund ...

Distillery is located on and consists of forty-four buildings and structures, twenty-four of which contribute to its historical character. It can be accessed from and is located at the intersection of PR-165 and PR-888.

History

Founded in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

in 1862 and family-owned for eight generations,

Bacardi Limited Bacardi Limited ( , , ) is the largest privately held, family-owned spirits company in the world. Originally known for its Bacardí brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 by Facundo ...

employs more than 7,000 people with sales in approximately 170 countries. Bacardi Limited refers to the Bacardi group of companies, including Bacardi International Limited. Registered in Puerto Rico in 1909, it was not until January 1, 1937, when the first batch of Bacardi

was produced in Cataño, Puerto Rico. In 1958, Bacardí purchased 138 acres of land in Cataño (a suburb of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

) and then governor

Luis Muñoz Marín José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín (February 18, 1898April 30, 1980) was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, statesman and was the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, regarded as the "Architect of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth." In 1948 he ...

called it the "Cathedral of Rum". The Bacardi Corporation in Cataño supplies the largest quantity of rum consumed in the world and is the private company that most contributes to the public treasury of Puerto Rico. The Bacardi Distillery was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on August 6, 2010, based on two criteria: (criteria A) the distillery's enormous contribution to the economic development of Puerto Rico since its establishment and (criteria C) its designers included W. Donald Christie,

Henry Klumb Heinrich Klumb (1905 in Cologne, Germany – 1984 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) was a German architect who worked in Puerto Rico during the mid 20th Century. Education and early life Klumb was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1905. An honors graduate ...

, Héctor Varela, and Enrique Gutiérrez. The builders included José Benítez Gutiérrez, Ramón M. Benítez, Ignacio Martín, and SAG MAC. There is a family museum at the complex and in 2012, the Bacardi family celebrated 150 years in business and gathered at the complex in Cataño. A bust of its founder, Facundo Bacardi Masso was unveiled. Then Governor

Luis Fortuño Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset (born 31 October 1960) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, from 2009 to 2013. Fortuño served as the first Secre ...

also declared a new holiday called Bacardi Day, to be celebrated on February 4, in honor of the company's important ties to Puerto Rico and its economy. The Bacardi complex is the second most visited tourist attraction in Puerto Rico. At the complex, tourists can go on a historical tour, a rum tasting tour and learn how to mix Bacardi rum drinks. After

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...

devastated Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, the distillery was soon able to provide clean drinking water to residents.

Buildings

* Casa BACARDI * Bacardi Family Museum * Bacardi Distillery * Bacardi Pavilion

Gallery

File:Casa Bacardi (349349243).jpg, Casa BACARDI Bacardi museum emblem.jpg, Emblem on the Bacardi Family Museum San Juan IMG 1932 bacardi destilleries.JPG, Bacardi Distillery Bacardi Pavillion - panoramio.jpg, Bacardi Pavilion Bacardi (18565818335).jpg, Bacardi in Cataño

References

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico Tourism in Puerto Rico Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico 1947 establishments in Puerto Rico Distilleries on the National Register of Historic Places Cataño, Puerto Rico Bacardi Industrial buildings completed in 1947 Sugar industry of Puerto Rico