Travel Day 003 – Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO
If the beaches had initially lured me into coming to Puerto Rico, colonial Old San Juan turned out to be a historic gem that was well worth a trip on its own…
Colorful Colonial House in UNESCO enlisted San Juan, Puerto Rico
My day started off quite relaxed as I had decided to spend all morning at the sunny beach again. After lunch it was then about time to hop on a local bus and visit the original colonial town which had now become the historic center of San Juan. Taking the bus was easy enough and allowed me to see a little bit more of the area, but once I arrived I was in for quite a big surprise…
Old San Juan appeared to be an amazing historic gem with complete city fortifications, two huge Spanish fortresses, colorful colonial buildings and a picture perfect location at the sea. I was truly impressed when I got off the bus and just started walking along the shore line outside the city walls. Not only seemed the location of the city on a natural peninsula well-chosen, but also all the fortifications must have guaranteed that this was the worlds best protected city at its time…
Rows of Historic houses in the Colonial UNESCO Gem of San Juan, Puerto Rico
Founded by the Spanish in 1521, Ciudad de Puerto Rico as it used to be called, was the second European settlement in the new world after Santo Domingo on the neighboring island of Hispaniola. After numerous hurricanes, war ship and pirate attacks on Santo Domingo, San Juan turned out to be the better defensible location during colonial times and ultimately the one with the state of the art fortifications. Obviously the “rich port” city had to be well protected since all the ships leaving the new world packed with plundered gold and silver had to make the final stop here before crossing the ocean and reaching a safe port in Spain…
Anyway, I used my afternoon to stroll around the cobble stone streets of this great colonial city and visited the older of the two big fortresses, Castillo San Felipe del Morro. While the extensive six level fortress at the rocky tip of the peninsula was really impressive, the old town with its colorful colonial houses was simply beautiful and a great teaser for what else was to come in South America. In any case, when the day ended I knew already that despite the heat and the tempting beach, I would be back tomorrow morning to see more of UNESCO World Heritage enlisted Old San Juan… : )
Find all San Juan photos here.
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