Travel

Puerto Rico: March 2015

Over spring break, I went with friends to Puerto Rico and we stayed in San Juan.

The island is about 100 miles long and 35 miles wide.

People born in Puerto Rico are natural-born U.S. citizens and Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory.

The Old San Juan Historic District

Description from the National Park Service:

The Viejo San Juan on the island of Puerto Rico was reluctantly founded by the famous Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León in 1519. With time, thanks to its advantageous geographic location, the center flourished and became the punta de lanza (point of the spear) of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. The Distrito Histórico del Viejo/Old San Juan Historic District is the second oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Western Hemisphere. Conceived as the capital of the island of Puerto Rico and known for centuries as the ciudad del puerto Rico (the city of the rich port), it is the oldest urban core in the island and the United States of America. The oldest house, Christian temple, executive mansion, convent and military defenses in the United States are found in this exceptional core. Some of its components-the Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, Castillo de san Cristóbal, circuit of defensive walls, and Palace de Santa Catalina-are considered part of the cultural heritage of humanity and were included in the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage List in 1983.

Castillo San Cristóbal

Also known as Fort San Cristóbal, is a fort in San Juan. It was built by Spain to protect against land based attacks on the city of San Juan. It is part of San Juan National Historic Site.

Castillo San Cristóbal is the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the New World. When it was finished in 1783, it covered about 27 acres of land and basically wrapped around the city of San Juan. Entry to the city was sealed by San Cristóbal's double gates. After close to one hundred years of relative peace in the area, part of the fortification (about a third) was demolished in 1897 to help ease the flow of traffic in and out of the walled city.

Three flags fly above the fort: the Burgundy Cross (the Spanish military flag that flew during colonial times), the Puerto Rican flag, and the U.S. flag.

There are tunnels and dungeons under Castillo San Cristóbal. The ships drawn on the wall to the right are believed to have been drawn by a Spanish captain who was held in one of the dungeons for mutiny and was awaiting execution.

San Juan Gate

For centuries, Spanish dignitaries entered through this gate. From there they walked up the street to the San Juan Cathedral to thank God for a safe voyage.

Access to and from san Juan was controlled through 5 gates, puertas, within the 3-mile wall that enclosed the city. Each gate had a different function. This gate was San Juan’s formal or symbolic entrance. Materials, supplies, and everyday traffic entered through other gates.

Guards secured the gates at night. If you were outside when the gates closed, you remained outside until they reopened in the morning.

Paseo del Morro

Through the San Juan gate is the Paseo del Morro which takes you towards the entrance to San Juan Bay following the contours of the city walls and directly beneath the El Morro Fort. It was originally used as a service road for the western section of the San Juan Wall and in 1998 it was opened to the general public to enjoy unique views of the city walls and El Morro Fort.

As a popular tourist destination, Puerto Rico is a popular destination for cruise ships as noted by these two massive ones that dwarf the buildings next to them.

We went on a nighttime guided kayak tour in Laguna Grande. We kayaked in 2 miles through mangrove trees to a lagoon that contains Dinoflagellate which glowed when you disturbed the water so everywhere we splashed or paddled, it lit up with bioluminescence.

The beautiful beaches of Puerto Rico

It was a great place to visit with friends