The capital city of Puerto Rico, San Juan, is one of the busiest ports in the Caribbean and a third of all Puerto Ricans live here. Nearly every visitor to the island arrives at San Juan, many on cruise liners. The port is the largest home-based cruise port in the world, hosting 28 vessels with more being added to the list each year.
San Juan is divided into three distinct districts: Old San Juan, the historic walled city, the beach and resort area and the outlying suburbs. Tourists are concerned mainly with Old San Juan, the site of most restaurants, shops, entertainment venues and the beaches. The old city is linked to the new by the largely residential Puerta de Tierra area, and a series of modern highways leading to the Condado beach front, which is reminiscent of Florida's Miami Beach with its high-rise hotels and apartment blocks.
It is not only tourism that keeps the financial mills grinding in San Juan. The city is an important centre for petroleum and sugar refining, brewing and distilling and the manufacturing of cement, pharmaceuticals, metal products and tobacco products. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle there are numerous attractions to amuse, entertain and interest the many tourists, and the city is a perfect base for exploring the rest of what this small Caribbean island has to offer.
Attractions
This area, encompassing about seven blocks, dates back about 500 years to the Spanish occupation when it served as a military stronghold that even repulsed Sir Francis Drake. The original cobbles on the streets are blue-tinged, and were originally ballast on the Spanish ships. The ancient stones set off the more than 400 restored 16th and 17th century Spanish colonial buildings that fill Old San Juan and draw thousands of tourists to walk the narrow, steep streets every day. The old town is enclosed in amazingly thick, high walls and features numerous attractive plazas bearing sculptures and memorials.
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| Fort San Felipe del Morro |
The mighty six-level fortress of San Felipe del Morro, built in 1540, towers 140 feet (43m) above the sea on San Juan Bay, its 18-foot thick (5m) walls having proved a worthy defence against invasion. The largest fortification in the Caribbean, it is a maze of tunnels, dungeons, barracks, lookouts and ramps, offering spectacular views from atop its ramparts. Also in Norzagaray Street, Old San Juan, is El Morro's partner in defending the city, Castillo San Cristobal, built in the 17th century to a confusing and intricate modular design.
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The Fortaleza was built in 1540 as a fortress to guard the entrance to the San Juan harbour, but later became the official Governor's residence. During succeeding centuries the original structure has been remodelled and expanded, with a neoclassical façade being added in 1846 to leave the building with its palatial aspect. The current governor of Puerto Rico is in residence - the 170th Governor to live in the Fortaleza.
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| Saint John the Baptist Cathedral |
San Juan's Cathedral was originally built in 1521 by Puerto Rico's first Spanish bishop as a thatched wooden church, but was destroyed in a hurricane in 1526. The current medieval structure, built from the stone brought in from inland quarries by horsepower, dates from 1540, although extensive renovations and reconstruction was carried out in 1917. The cathedral features Doric columns and elliptical vaults, and contains the marble tomb of the island's first governor.
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The family of Puerto Rico's first governor, Ponce de Leon, whose descendants inhabited it for 250 years, built the historic homestead of Casa Blanca in 1523. It was subsequently taken over by the Spanish and then United States military. Today the mansion house contains two museums. A small section is dedicated to artefacts associated with the Taino Indians, while the rest of the house depicts the life of those who lived there through the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
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The 18th century mansion known as Casa del Libro houses a vast collection of rare sketches, illustrations, ancient manuscripts and books, some dating from before the 16th century. The museum's most prized possessions are two royal mandates signed by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain in 1493 regarding the provisioning of Christopher Columbus's fleet for his second voyage to the New World. This was the voyage during which Puerto Rico was discovered.
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| University of Puerto Rico Campus |
The University of Puerto Rico campus in the Rio Piedras offers several attractions for visitors and non-students. Museum of History, Anthropology and Art contains archaeological and historical exhibits and holds monthly art exhibitions, and the Art Museum Dr. Pío López Martínez de Cayey has a large collection of Puerto Rican silkscreen posters. The Botanical Gardens in the grounds of the University are a living laboratory displaying the native flora of Puerto Rico, containing more than 200 species of tropical and sub-tropical plants, and many sculptures from artists such as Leopoldo Maler, Carlos Guzman and Rolando López Dirube.
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Puerto Rico's showcase art gallery opened just a few years ago at a cost of millions of dollars. The gallery is housed in a former city hospital in Santurce and offers a permanent and visiting exhibition. The aim is to highlight the island's heritage through the work of local artists, such as Francisco Oller, who studied in France with Cézanne, and Jose Campeche, a late 18th century Classical painter. The museum has been described as a 'living textbook of Puerto Rico', spanning the centuries through the medium of art.
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| Arecibo Ionospheric Observatory |
America's ears and eyes are focused on the stars from the island of Puerto Rico. In the northwest mountains of the island about 90 minutes drive west of San Juan, among the Karst Country hills, is one of the most important astronomical research facilities on earth, the Arecibo Ionospheric Observatory. Its massive dish is larger in area than a dozen football fields and is sited in a sinkhole, aimed at the heavens and tuned to detect the slightest sounds emitted from the farthest stars. This is the home base for NASA's 'SETI' (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) project and as such holds great fascination for visitors. A Visitors Centre is equipped with interactive exhibits to demonstrate how the huge structure works. Visitors can hike to the viewing platform to view the vast tiled dish.
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Well worth a day trip from San Juan is the incredible 268-acre Rio Camuy Cave Park, two hours south-west of the city. The park is the site of miles of subterranean caverns that were carved out of the limestone by the Camuy River more than a million years ago. Only seven miles (11km) of the caves have yet been fully explored, but 16 entrances have been discovered to what is believed to be the world's largest cave network. Well-maintained walking trails lead visitors down 200 feet (61m) into a fern-filled ravine to explore the cathedral-like caverns. Guided tours are available through one cave and two sinkholes, where you will see stalactites, stalagmites and plenty of bats. The caverns also contain a unique species of blindfish. The park has picnic areas, walking trails, food outlets, an exhibition hall and a souvenir shop. Rio Camuy tends to be overcrowded with long queues during peak season.
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Named in honour of Puerto Rican statesman Luis Muñoz Rivera, and featuring plenty of wide open space, picnic areas, walkways and even a small children's playground, the Luis Muñoz Rivera Park is the perfect place to take the kids for a day of fun in the sun, especially those who have been cooped up on board a cruise ship. Pack a picnic or simply enjoy the fresh air and scenery along the tree-lined paths, decorated artistically with art and mosaics.
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Children will feel like they are in an Indiana Jones movie when they visit the magnificent Parque de las Cavernas del Río Camuy(Camuy River Cave Park), a large network of natural limestone caves and waterways which can be explored by trolley. The caverns and underground tunnels were created over a million years ago by the tropical Río Camuy(Camuy River) which is the third longest underground river in the world and is home to a unique species of fish that is totally blind. Only three crater-like sink holes and two caves are open to the public which are reached by a guided trolley that descends into a sinkhole lined with dense tropical vegetation. Kids will love the spacious grounds of the park, which include a cafeteria, picnic area, gift shop, walking trails, exhibition hall, and theatre.
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Events
| San Sebastian Street Festival |
San Juan - The streets of San Sebastian
The street festival is a carnival of colour featuring live music, food stalls, fairground rides and processions of flamboyant Puerto Rican culturama.
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San Juan - Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré
The Casals Festival celebrates classical music each year at the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A Ferré in San Juan. This festival was established in 1956 by the famous Spanish cellist, Pablo Casals. Features of the event include pieces by renown international performers such as the New York Philharmonic and Boston Baroque, as well as local favourites Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico.
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San Juan - Tito Puente Amphitheater
The Heineken Jazzfest is an annual Latin jazz festival held at the Tito Puente Amphitheater in San Juan. The island's rich musical culture is celebrated here through salsa and merengue, with past performances by Ahmad Jamal, the Pat Metheny Trio and the Dave Valentin Quintet.
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