National Historic Site--National Historic Zone

World Heritage Site

Caleta Street, Old San Juan, P.R.

San Juan, Puerto Rico is a mixture of the old and the new... a bustling city with a special appeal...but nowhere is that more evident that in that part we lovingly call " mi viejo San Juan"..old San Juan. It is the sheer weight of history that pervades its atmosphere that makes us go back again and again in endless pilgrimages to its streets, looking for our roots...San Juan is delightful and lively...The sense of history here is extremely appealing.The core of the city dates back more than four centuries; it is older than any other city under the American flag. Its buildings and fortifications are among the best preserved of Spain's colonial cities; wandering through its narrow streets is journeying through history....but it is also a lively, living little city, alive with myriad sounds, smells, tastes, textures and even emotions..it is one of the historic treasures of the New World. La Fortaleza and forts El Morro and San Cristobal are World Heritage as well as National Historic sites. The UNESCO World Heritage Site designation is no small acclaim. It means the world community has deemed these locations as important legacies for all mankind.

Caparra was founded in 1508 a few miles inland from a big and beautiful bay that Juan Ponce de Leon called puerto rico ("rich port"). The island was named San Juan and Ponce de Leon was named its Governor. After some years, when it became apparent that the open and marshy terrain was a site ideal for insect propagation and indian attacks a town of about 300 settlers began to take shape on the small island on the northern side of San Juan Bay by June of 1519. But it was in 1521 that the city was baptized with the name of San Juan of Puerto Rico...Only three-and-one half miles long and approximately one mile wide, San Juan, with its natural harbor in an inlet easily arrived at by sea, was a perfect place to defend. San Juan was built quicly and it consisted of, first and foremost, the church, surrounded by some 80 houses. These primitive structures were built of wood and covered with thatched straw. The first four main streets were designed in a simple grid system: Calle del Cristo, West Recinto, Caleta San Juan and Caleta Las Monjas.San Juan was to slowly gain importance as it was on the route of convoys that were to take back to Spain the riches discovered in North and South America and in other richer colonies in the Caribbean.San Juan stands on the western edge of an islet that is bordered in the north by the Atlantic and on the south and west by a vast and graceful bay. On the eastern side, historic San Antonio bridge joins the islet to the mainland of Puerto Rico.

The Spanish began construction of walls and fortresses that would ensure the city's defense. The first, begun in 1537, was the palace-fortress which came to be called La Fortaleza ("the Fortress"). It later became apparent that the location was not the best for the defense of the harbor and a stronger fort on El Morro (The Headland or promontory)was planned. In 1539 construction of that fort, which would be named San Felipe del Morro was started, but it was in 1591 that the great hornwork was built. By 1783 El Morro had become essentially what it is today, a single compact unit with six levels rising 140 feet above the sea and with a vast field on the land side covering a system of mining tunnels.Its mission was to close the harbor entrance with its firepower. Inside, the castle has all the appearance of a living citadel: barracks,cisterns, supply and storage rooms, dungeons, a chapel, armory and offices, all bombproof against the explosives of past centuries.Safe behind El Morro's towering walls, Spain's lonely garrison fought off Sir Francis Drake privater fleet in 1595 but succumbed three years later to a siege by the third earl of Cumberland, George Clifford. Heat and disease quickly drove the British out, but in 1625 a Dutch force laid siege to the Spanish outpost.The Spanish held on to the fort tenaciously, though the Dutch sacked much of Old San Juan. Refortified, the fort appeared invincible to the British in 1797. El Morro withstood an artillery barrage by US warships during the Spanish-American war of 1898. Not until Spain ceded the island to the United States at the end of the war did the the Spanish flag over this resilient bastion come down permanently.The fort is today part of the San Juan National Historic Site and is administered by the National Park Service.

View from El Morro towards the old city.

Attacks by Drake in 1595, the Earl of Cumberland in 1598 and the Dutch in 1625 made it evident that stronger fortifications were needed to protect against landward attacks and in 1634 construction began on Fort San Cristobal and the walls of the city.A masterpiece of 18th century military engineering, San Cristobal dominates Plaza Colon and the eastern approach to Old San Juan.The Wall's average heighth is 40 feet but reaches 48 feet by La Fortaleza and the width varies from 20 feet at the base to ten or 12 feet at the top.The Wall still exists on the northern and western sides but was torn down on the southern and eastern side to make room for expansion of the city.

The city shows its best side from the harbor. Because of the natural slope of the terrain the complex of buildings takes the form of a great amphitheater framed by a formidable ring of walls and castles. The combination of modern buildings and old houses give variety to the cityscape and gives Old San Juan its picturesque and colorful character.It is a city with a proud and rich heritage... It is estimated there are at least 400 structures of historic value in Old San Juan.

The face of colonial Spain can still be seen in the streets of San Juan--cobblestone paving, inner patios and courtyards, overhanging balconies and religious shrines. But the city's most impressive features are still the old castles and fortifications which provided its defense.

Old San Juan is not large; only a seven -block-square and is thus easy to explore by foot...Start at El Morro at the top of the hill..enjoy the breathtaking views of the Bay and the Atlantic. As you leave the grounds of El Morro to the east, you'll come to the new Plaza del Quinto Centenario --or Quicentennial Square. Set on steps and on various levels, the square has a totemic monument and a fountain with over one hundred jets of water simbolizing the past five centuries..The upper western level offers a majestic view of the old San Juan Cemetery with the Atlantic Ocean in the background. Nearby is the Cuartel de Ballaja or Ballaja military barracks, once home to Spanish troops and their families and the largest building engineered by the Spaniards in the New World. It will be the Museum of the Americas.Close by is the Dominican Convent, dating from the 16th Century and now Headquarters of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture...stroll on San Jose Plaza with its statue of Juan Ponce de Leon; the Plaza looks like any other provincial square in any outpost of the Spanish empire.The statue was made from cannons captured during the unsuccesful British attack on San Juan in 1797. Facing the Plaza is San Jose Church, the oldest church building in Puerto Rico and the second oldest in the New World. Close by visit the Pablo Casals Museum. Follow the Wall to the Casa Blanca built for the first Governor who, however, never lived there.The family of Ponce de Leon lived there until 1779; after departing, the house was used as headquarters of the Corps of Military Engineers until 1898 and is now a museum of family life in the 16th and 17th century Puerto Rico. A sweeping view of San Juan harbor can be seen from the small plaza at the end of the Caleta Las Monjas, the Plazuela de las Rogativas . Go to Cristo Street and the Cathedral of San Juan originally built in the 1520's.The original, built of wood and thatch and built on the most prominent spot of the town, facing the port, was destroyed by a hurricane. In 1540 a substantial structure was begun but the Cathedral seen today is largely the result of work done in the early 19th Century.The Cathedral contains the marble tomb of Ponce de Leon whose remains were transferred here from San Jose Church in 1908.The San Juan Gate is a short walk away, the only gate of the original six still standing. It was built on the little cove just north of La Fortaleza where small ships in early times preffered to anchor; on its top is a sign that reads;"Benedictus qui venit in nomini Domini". The door was closed down at sunset to cut off access to the city. Just outside the gate, facing the cove, a statue honors Queen Isabella of Spain--it is inscribed "Isabela la Catolica-Madre de America".

Visit La Fortaleza , the Residence of the Governor of the island, completed in 1540 but rebuilt in 1846. Re-take Cristo Street and visit the charming Plaza de las Palomas , a small park with trees and benches but overrun by pigeons -for which it is named.The park is built along the top of the city wall and is next to the historicCapilla del Cristo on the southern Wall, dedicated to the Christ of Miracles.Then take Fortaleza Street towards the main plaza or Plaza de Armas, also known variously during its history as the Plaza Principal, Plaza Alfonso XII, and the Plaza de la Constitucion; recently remodeled and named that way because citizens trained there in case they had to defend the city. Later the plaza became a social center; on certain evenings a band played there.Thae Plaza has been the scene of parades, speeches, demonstrations, weary tourists, running children and pigeon feeding.The four statues that preside over the square represent the four seasons and are over a hundred years old. La Alcaldia or City Hall is adjacent to the Plaza; completed by 1789 it is a beautiful building with a double arcade facade flanked by two towers which is said to have been inspired by Madrid's City Hall, which it resembles.

Walking more down the hill you will reach the Bay front with historic Paseo de La Princesa where sunsets are spectacular. The promenade, elegantly landscaped with trees, statues, benches, streetlamps and kiosks faces the bay and a fountain with a bronze sculpture depicting the island's cultural roots.Close by is the old Princesa Jail built in 1837, now restored Headquarters of the Tourism Co.The heighth of the city wall can well be appreciated here. La Casita, a miniature building, today houses the P.R.Tourism Co. information center.The newly renovated tourism piers at the Marina area are the base for arrival and departure of the most beautiful and largest of cruise ships in the Caribbean; San Juan is the second largest home port for cruise passengers.Rest in shady parks and enjoy a traditional refresco such as a piragua (tropical fruit flavored snow cones) or helados (ices, commonly of coconut or pineapple).

Then ascend the hill again in the eastern side past the Tapia Theater, built in 1832 and named after Alejandro Tapia y Rivera, Puerto Rico's first prominent playwright. The theater was last restored in 1976 at 300 times its original cost.Go up to magnificent San Cristobal Castle on Norzagaray Street.The fort is also administered by the National Park Service as part of the San Juan National Historic Site.

Old San Juan is the historic core of the Capital City but the city as such includes the suburbs of Santurce, Hato Rey and Rio Piedras. The so called Metropolitan San Juan area encompasses also the cities of Bayamon, Carolina and Trujillo Alto.This is the political base,economic powerhouse and cultural center of the island, and home to about one third of all Puerto Ricans. Modern expressways cut through its urban sprawl to link towering concrete buildings and beachfront hotels.

The tourist area of El Condado with its glittering beachfront strip of modern hotels is linked to Puerta de Tierra and Old San Juan by the Dos Hermanos Bridge, built in 1910. The greater neighborhood of Santurce, adjoining the Condado, was once the most exclusive in San Juan but is now in sad decline.

The Isla Verde sector, also a tourist area with beautiful but crowded beaches is located to the east of Santurce and El Condado and is close to the Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport, the major transportation center of the Caribbean.

The Hato Rey district, situated to the south of the Martin Peña Canal, is today the "Wall Street" of the West Indies. Housing the banking district within the "golden mile"it is so named because of the large number of banking institutions within a mile stretch along Muñoz Rivera Avenue.

Rio Piedras, south of both Hato Rey and Santurce is most known as the location of the main Campus of the University of Puerto Rico and its student population.

The San Juan area is rich in both cultural and recreational activities and has a varied nigh-life both in the old and new San Juan areas.

En Mi Viejo San Juan ( música de fondo...)

En mi Viejo San Juan cuántos sueños forjé
en mis años de infancia.
Mi primera ilusión, y mis cuitas de amor.
son recuerdos del alma.

Una tarde partí hacia extraña nación,
pues lo quiso el destino.
Pero mi corazón se quedó frente al mar,
en mi Viejo San Juan.

Adiós, adiós, adiós,
Borinquen querida, tierra de mi amor
Adiós,adiós, adiós,
mi diosa del mar,mi reina del palmar

Me voy...ya me voy, pero un día volveré.
. A buscar mi querer, a soñar otra vez,
en mi Viejo San Juan...

Pero el tiempo pasó, y el destino burló,
mi terrible nostalgia...
Y no pude volver al San Juan que yo amé,
pedacito de patria...

Mi cabello blanqueó,ya mi vida se va...
ya la muerte me llama,
Y no quiero morir alejado de ti Puerto Rico del alma...

Por: Noel Estrada