Thursday, March 08, 2007

The Old City of San Juan 2007


Looking at this statue, the Statue of Cristobal Colon, aka Christopher Columbus. I never figured it out . How can he have two names, as names are not supposed to be translated, but who cares 500 years after. I used to go to the old city almost every week. Sometimes I would go two to three times a week


When you come to the city of San Juan Bautista, you will enter with the Fort of San Cristobal to your right . When you look to the front you will see Cristobal Colon up high on this pedestal. It has been there at least since I can remember, and about 40 years or more.

The Castillo de San Cristóbal is a Spanish fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was built by the Spaniards to protect against land based attacks on the city of San Juan. It is part of San Juan National Historic Site.

Castillo de 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, basically wrapping 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.




Above you will see one of Old San Juan's Cobblestone streets and it's picturesque facades.


Here above you will find de San Juan Bautista Cathedral in Old San Juan . The Cathedral of San Juan Bautista is a cathedral in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

San Juan Bautista Cathedral
151 Cristo St
PO Box 9022145
San Juan, PR 00902
Phone: (787) 722-0861
A Cathedral of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan


The cathedral is one of the oldest buildings in San Juan, and is the second oldest cathedral in the Western Hemisphere; construction began in 1521Below is the tomb where Juan Ponce de Leon is preserved. Juan Ponce de León (c. 1460 – July 1521) was a Spanish conquistador. He was born in Santervás de Campos (Valladolid). As a young man he joined the war to conquer Granada, the last Moorish state on the Iberian peninsula. Ponce de León accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish Crown.
In 1521 Ponce de León organized a colonizing expedition on two ships. It consisted of some 200 men, including priests, farmers and artisans, 50 horses and other domestic animals, and farming implements. The expedition landed on the southwest coast of Florida, somewhere in the vicinity of the Caloosahatchee River or Charlotte Harbor. The colonists were soon attacked by Calusas and Ponce de León was injured by a poisoned arrow to the shoulder. After this attack, he and colonists sailed to Havana, Cuba, where he soon died of the wound. His tomb is in the cathedral in Old San Juan.
363 Fortaleza Street,San Juan, PR 00901 Puerto Rico, 787 725 7370. This hotspot is located in the trendy district of SoFo, meaning South Fortaleza Street. This Nuevo Latino cuisine powerhouse offers some excellent Caribbean fare with a gourmet touch, excellent for the hungry traveller.

Well nothing else to say for now. I will try once more to upload pictures of my voyage to the town of Arecibo and some of it's landmarks. Arecibo (ah-re-SEE-boh) is a municipality in the northern midwest coast of Puerto Rico and located by the Atlantic Ocean. In the meantime , Salud!

3 comments:

Deneen said...

Beautiful pictures Andy-are you back in Cali?

naomi said...

Ohhhhhhh, so pretty ! It looks like you're having a great time !

LadyLinoleum said...

Gosh, totally lovely there! Actually, I was just talking to a friend about possibly taking a girl's vacation in PR. Must be kismet.

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