Rolo and I took the morning off from the conference on Tuesday to take a walking tour of Old San Juan.
Old San Juan is the oldest settlement in Puerto Rico- founded in 1508 by Ponce de Leon himself.
This is San Cristobal Fort- built in 1771 to provide protection to the city from land invasions.
We didn't tour this Fort, but got some good views of it from the street.
The best place to start the walking tour of the city is on the Paseo de la Princesa.
The boardwalk was built in 1853 and circles the walls of the city. The 42 ft tall walls were built as protection against invasion and piracy.
La Garita- a sentry box for soldiers. Garitas are seen all along Old San Juan's walls and forts. They have become a cultural symbol for Puerto Rico.
Here's Rolo planning out our tour with the obligatory "You are Here" symbol on the map. Rolo is the BEST tour guide EVER!!!
This is the Raices Fountain which depicts the Spirit of Puerto Rico and celebrates the Spanish, American and African heritage of the island.
Bay of San Juan- one of the largest natural harbors in the world.
Another garita- I couldn't get enough of them!
View of the wall along the bay.
Yep- you guessed. Another one!
The small openings to the garita provided protection from gunfire to the soldier inside. Some of the garitas are so small that they could only accommodate a 5 ft tall soldier.
View from the Paseo.
La Puerta de San Juan- this gate was built in 1520 and was the official entrance through the walls to the city.
Streets of Old San Juan.
Some of the houses along the streets were so cool- the designs were a mixture of Spanish, Colonial and Caribbean influences. This one had beautiful wood work on the doors and windows.
La Capilla del Cristo- this chapel was built to commemorate a miracle that happened at the site. Legend has it that a man lost control of his horse and they both galloped over the cliff at the end of Cristo's street. As they fell to their deaths, the man prayed to a Catholic Saint to save him and the saint granted his wish. There's no word as to whether the horse lived or not.
Next to the chapel is Pigeon Park. If you have a fear of birds or don't want to risk getting pooped on, then don't come here.
The park had a gorgeous view of the bay though!
This wall even has little pigeon houses built into it!
La Fortaleza- the Governor's Mansion. Originally built in 1533 to protect the harbor, it was turned into the governor's mansion in 1822. Extensive reconstruction was started in 1846 to remove the military appearance and give it a more palatial facade. Since La Fortaleza has acted as the residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico since the 16th century, it is the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas.
Cathedral San Juan Bautista- built in 1521. It's the second oldest cathedral in the Western Hemisphere and houses the tomb of Ponce de Leon.
A tree lined street in Old San Juan.
La Rogativa- The Procession. According to a popular Puerto Rican legend, British troops were besieging the city on the night of April 30, 1797. The townswomen, led by a bishop, formed a rogativa or prayer procession and marched throughout the streets of the city singing hymns and carrying torches. Outside the walls, the invaders mistook the procession for the arrival of Spanish reinforcements and retreated.
View of San Juan Bay.
Similar view of San Juan Bay, but overwhelmingly ruined by the large cruise ship. Tourism is big in Puerto Rico right now and there are many cruise lines who use San Juan as a port of call.
One of the most popular attractions in Old San Juan is the Castillo San Felipe del Morro. Its a 16th century citadel built in 1539 to control the harbor and protect the city.
There is a huge lawn outside the fort where lots of people come to picnic or fly kites.
This is the current lighthouse at El Morro- built in 1908 by the US Army.
View of the Caribbean Sea from El Morro.
Wooden doors.
The original fort was very small- it only held a few men and 4 cannons. However, more and more pirates and privateers (an officially sanctioned pirate) tried to take the city, construction began in 1765 to enlarge El Morro, San Cristobal and the walls surrounding the city.
Me at El Morro!
Three flags are flown at El Morro- the Puerto Rican flag, the United States flag and the Cross of Burgandy flag (Old Spanish Flag).
What made El Morro such a strong fort? The Isla de Cabras is just across the entrance to the by which houses a second small fort. Therefore, there was no spot at the entrance that couldn't be reached by at least one cannon from either El Morro or the fort on Isla de Cabras. Pretty smart!
This is the Bacardi Rum Distillery. Rum is the national drink and Puerto Rico is the world's leading rum producer with 80% of the rum consumed in the United States coming from PR.
Rolo poses with the cannon balls.
Cool shot of me, the lighthouse and the flags!
This was the best self-portrait EVER!!! I precariously set my camera up on one of those binocular thingys! Look how well it turned out!
El Morro's cannons have seen a lot of action. The most notable attempted take-overs began in 1595 when Sir Francis Drake was defeated in his attempt to take over the city to capture the gold and silver housed at La Fortaleza.
In 1598, Sir George Clifford sieged the city of San Juan and was the only one to ever capture El Morro. The siege did not last long though. After 65 days, 600-700 English soldiers were suffering from dysentery. With barely enough troops to crew the ships, they retreated, but burned and looted the city on their way out.
Rolo- the forever PR patriot!
I love this photo- my friend, Ray, took this exact shot when he visited the fort three days later! Great minds think alike!
The first US shots of WWI were fired from El Morro in 1915. Shots were fired at an armed German supply ship attempting to leave the harbor to supply German submarines off the coast. The ship was heavily damaged and forced to return to the harbor where it was captured.
I love this photo too- most Caribbean forts have large open spaces with rounded doorways in between. These doorways were pretty small too again demonstrating that the average height of the Spanish soldiers was much shorter than by today's standards.
Battery
San Juan Cemetery- oldest cemetery in San Juan. Many famous people, including governors of Puerto Rico are buried here. This cemetery is considered one of the most picturesque of burial grounds anywhere. Many of the elaborate tombstones date back to the late 19th century.
Plaza del Quinto Centenario- this plaza was built in 1992 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the New World. The 40 ft. totem pole symbolizes the earthen and clay roots of American history and is the work of Jaime Suarez, one of Puerto Rico's foremost artists.
San Jose church- one of the earliest surviving examples of 16th century Spanish Gothic architecture in the Western Hemisphere. It was built between 1532 and 1735. Ponce de Leon was originally buried here before his remains were moved to the Cathedral.
And last but not least, here is Christopher Columbus' backside. Plaza de Colón honors Christopher Columbus on the 400th anniversary of his discovery of Puerto Rico. I'm not really sure why I didn't end up with a photo of the frontside.
