Sights in San Juan
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Plaza de San José
Adjacent to the uppermost terrace of the Plaza del Quinto Centenario, where it meets Calle San Sebastián, is the Plaza de San José. This relatively small cobblestone plaza is dominated by a statue of Juan Ponce de León, cast from an English cannon captured in the raid of 1797. The plaza is probably the highest point in this city and serves as a threshold to four cultural sites on its perimeter. The neighborhood around the plaza, on San Sebastián and the intersecting Calle del Cristo, is the original home of the restaurant, bar and café scene that began in Old San Juan more than a decade ago.
There are still plenty of places to grab a bite to eat in a shady building…
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La Fortaleza
A steep climb along Recinto Oeste takes you to the top of the city wall and the guarded iron gates of La Fortaleza. Also known as El Palacio de Santa Catalina, this imposing building is the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the western hemisphere, dating from 1533. Once the original fortress for the young colony, La Fortaleza eventually yielded its military pre-eminence to the city’s newer and larger forts, and was remodeled and expanded to domicile island governors for more than three centuries. You can join a guided tour that includes the mansion’s Moorish gardens, the dungeon and the chapel. Free guided tours generally run on weekdays except holidays; tours…
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Mercado de Río Piedras
If you like the smell of fish and oranges, the bustle of people, and trading jests in Spanish as you bargain for a bunch of bananas, the Mercado de Río Piedras is for you. As much a scene as a place to shop, the market continues the colonial tradition of an indoor market that spills into the streets.
The four long blocks of shops and inexpensive restaurants lining Paseo de Diego, and facing the market, have been closed to auto traffic, turning the whole area into an outdoor mall. You can shop or just watch as the local citizens negotiate for everything from chuletas (pork chops) and camisas (shirts) to cassettes featuring Puerto Rican pop-music wonders like Menudo.…
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Casa Blanca
First constructed in 1521 as a residence for Puerto Rico’s pioneering governor, Juan Ponce de León (who died before he could move in), the Casa Blanca is the oldest continuously occupied house in the western hemisphere. For the first 250 years after its construction it served as the ancestral home for the de León family. In 1779 it was taken over by the Spanish military, then with the change of Puerto Rico’s political status in 1898, it provided a base for US military commanders until 1966. Today it is a historic monument containing a museum, secluded grounds, a chain of fountains and an Alhambra-style courtyard. The interior rooms are decked out with artifacts from…
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Corporación Piñones Se Integra
The Corporación Piñones Se Integra is a community based nonprofit organization that is involved in improving the facilities in Puerto Rico’s poorer barrios, particularly Loíza. Concurrently, they are working hard to keep the island’s traditional Afro-Caribbean culture alive. Headquartered in the Centro Cultural Ecoturístico de Piñones situated to the right of Rte 187 immediately after you cross the bridge at Boca de Cangrejos, the organization promotes some of Puerto Rico’s best bomba y plena performances at its on-site Café El Búho at 9pm on the second and last Friday of each month. You can also arrange traditional dancing and percussion lessons here (phone…
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Iglesia de San José
What it lacks in grandiosity it makes up for in age; the Iglesia de San José in the Plaza de San José is the second-oldest church in the Americas, after the cathedral in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Established in 1523 by Dominicans, this church with its vaulted Gothic ceilings still bears the coat of arms of Juan Ponce de León (whose family worshipped here), a striking carving of the Crucifixion and ornate processional floats. For 350 years, the remains of Ponce de León rested in a crypt here before being moved to the city’s cathedral, down the hill. Another relic missing from the chapel is a Flemish carving of the Virgin of Bethlehem, which came to the…
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Balneario Escambrón
Balneario Escambrón. Imagine it - a sheltered arc of raked sand, decent surf breaks, plenty of local action and the sight of a 17th-century Spanish fort shimmering in the distance. But, hang on a minute. Are you really still only a stone's throw from Old San Juan and the busy tourist strip of Condado? Balneario Escambrón is almost too good to be true, which is probably why a lot of people miss it.
Perched on the north end of the slither of land that is Puerta de Tierra and abutting majestic Parque del Tercer Milenio, this palm-fringed yet rugged beach just might be one of the best municipal options offered anywhere. Adding convenience to enchantment, there are…
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Playa Isla Verde
Resort pluggers will tell you that Playa Isla Verde is the Copacabana of Puerto Rico with its legions of tan bodies and dexterous beach bums flexing their triceps around the volleyball net. Other more savvy travelers prefer to dodge the extended families and colonizing spring-break hedonists that stake space here and head west to Ocean Park. Whatever your subjective view, this broad mile-long wedge of sand that lies between Punta Las Marías and Piñones is an undeniable beauty.
The downside - if there is one - is access. Cutting in front of the towering condos and plush hotels of Av Isla Verde, the beach is completely obscured from the road and, as a result, lacks the…
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Paseo de la Princesa
Emanating a rather distinctly European flavor, the Paseo de la Princesa is a 19th-century esplanade situated just outside the city walls. Lined with antique street lamps, shade trees, statues, benches, fruit vendors' carts and street entertainers, this romantic walkway culminates at the magnificent Raíces Fountain, a stunning statue/water feature that depicts the island's eclectic Taíno, African and Spanish heritage.
The Paseo is an ideal place to indulge in that most refined of Latin pastimes, the evening stroll - an activity best enjoyed at sunset when the breeze blows stiffly off the bay, the fountain shimmers under haunting colored lights and assorted vendors tempt…
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Parque Muñoz Rivera
Spanning half the width of Puerta de Tierra between the Atlantic and Av Ponce de León, this green space, known as Parque Muñoz Rivera, dates back over 50 years and injects some much needed breathing space into the surrounding urbanity. It has shade trees, trails, a kid's playground, and a 'Peace Pavilion', which sometimes hosts community events. An artisans' fair is held here and at the adjacent Parque Sixto Escobar on most weekends.
Parque Sixto Escobar - named for the famed Puerto Rican boxer - was the site of the eighth Pan American Games, held in 1979, and is now home to an Olympic athletics track, and the gusty Balneario Escambrón. It also hosts the annual Heineken…
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Puerta de Tierra
Less than 2 miles in length and only one-quarter of a mile broad, this district occupies the lowland, filling the rest of the area that was colonial San Juan. Puerta de Tierra takes its name from its position as the 'gateway of land' leading up to the walls of Old San Juan, which was the favored route of land attack by waves of English and Dutch invaders. For centuries, Puerta de Tierra was a slum much like La Perla, although far less picturesque.
It was a place where free blacks and multiracial people lived, excluded from the protection of the walled city where the Spaniards and criollos (islanders of European decent) postured like European gentry and maneuvered for…
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El Capitolio
Sandwiched between Av Muñoz Rivera and Av Ponce de León, just east of Fuerte San Cristóbal, is El Capitolio of the commonwealth. Resembling a smaller, Romanesque version of the US Capitol, the building commands an authoritative position in Puerta de Tierra overlooking the wave-lashed coast. The much-revered constitution of the commonwealth, which moved the island a step closer to its citizens’ dreams of freedom from colonialism in 1951, is on display inside the 80ft rotunda. Regular sessions of the legislature meet inside, while rallies for and against statehood occur outside every time the government calls for an island-wide plebiscite on the issue.
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Puerta de San Juan
Spanish ships once anchored in the cove just off these ramparts to unload colonists and supplies, all of which entered the city through a tall red portal known as Puerta de San Juan. This tunnel through the wall dates from the 1630s. It marks the end of the Paseo de la Princesa, and stands as one of three remaining gates into the old city (the others lead into the cemetery and the enclave of La Perla). Once there were a total of five gates, and the massive wooden doors were closed each night to thwart intruders.
Turn right after passing through the gate and you can follow the Paseo del Morro northwest, paralleling the city walls for approximately ¾ of a mile.
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Parque de las Palomas
Parque de las Palomas on the lower end of Calle del Cristo is a cobblestone courtyard shaded with trees at the top of the city wall. Paloma means 'dove' or 'pigeon' in Spanish and it's the latter variety you'll encounter here, in their hundreds. Some brave souls come here for the view it affords of Bahía de San Juan. Others just turn up to feed the pigeons. (You can buy birdseed from a vendor by the gate.)
Devout Christians have long believed that if you feed the birds and one 'anoints' you with its pearly droppings, you have been blessed by God. Agnostics prefer to look upon it as just plain old bad luck.
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La Casita
Looking like a yellow gatehouse, La Casita greets visitors near the cruise ship docks in 'lower' Old San Juan, in the outskirts of the walled city that rises on the hill to the north. The Department of Agriculture & Commerce built this miniature neoclassical structure with its red-tiled roof in 1937 to serve the needs of the burgeoning port. Today, La Casita is the information center for the PRTC.
Stop here for maps, and to check out the weekend craft market. Also look for the food vendors selling icy piraguas (delicious snow cones) or taste the local coffee at the old-fashioned hexagonal stand.
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Museum
This small but quite engaging museum of anthropology, history and art is worth a stop to see examples of the trove of Taíno Indian artifacts unearthed by university scholars in recent digs. In addition, this museum features revolving art shows and offers scholarly perspectives on island history. Finally, visiting the museum gives travelers a legitimate reason to be snooping around the university campus and opens opportunities for connecting with the students and faculty. The opening hours vary, so call ahead. It lies just inside the entrance to the UPR campus, next to the Biblioteca Lazaro.
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Plaza de Armas
Follow Calle San Francisco into the heart of the old city and it opens on to the Plaza de Armas. This is the city's nominal 'central' square, laid out in the 16th century with the classic look of plazas from Madrid and Mexico. In its time, the plaza has served as a military parade ground (hence its name), a vegetable market and a social center.
Shade trees, banks of seats, and a couple of old-fashioned coffee booths still make the plaza the destination of choice for couples taking their evening stroll. The beat of a bomba drum has also been known to light up an otherwise humdrum evening.
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Plazuela de la Rogativa
This tiny gem of a park, the Plazuela de la Rogativa, has lovely vistas overlooking the bay and is home to a whimsical bronze sculpture of the bishop of San Juan and three women bearing torches.
According to legend, the candles held by the women who walked through this plaza one night in 1797 tricked British lieutenant Abercromby - who was getting ready to lay siege to San Juan with his 8000 troops and flotilla of more than 50 vessels - into believing that reinforcements were flooding the city from out on the island. Fearful of being outnumbered, Abercromby and his fleet withdrew.
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Convento de Los Dominicos
Next to the Iglesia de San José is the Convento de los Dominicos, a Dominican convent which dates from the 16th century. After centuries of use as a convent, the building became a barracks for Spanish troops and was later used as a headquarters for US occupational forces after the Spanish-American War of 1898. It has been restored to its colonial grandeur and houses the arts/crafts/music/book store of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueňa, as well as a small chapel museum. Cultural events are sometimes held in the patio, and art exhibitions in the galleries.
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Plaza de Colón
Tracing its roots back more than a century to the 400-year anniversary of the first Columbus expedition, the Plaza de Colón lies across the street from the lower part of Fuerte San Cristóbal. The city wall on this end of Old San Juan was torn down in 1897, and the plaza, with its statue of the 'Discoverer' atop a pillar, stands on the site of one of the city's original gated entries, Puerta Santiago.
Today, the plaza acts as a gateway to much of the traffic entering the city from Av Muñoz Rivera. Buses and taxis congregate on the plaza's south side.
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Cementerio de San Juan
Sitting just outside the northern fortifications of the old city, the neoclassical chapel in the Cementerio de San Juan provides a focal point among the graves of the colony's earliest citizens - as well as that of the famous Puerto Rican freedom fighter Pedro Albizu-Campos. This Harvard-educated chemical engineer, lawyer and politician led the agricultural workers' strikes in 1934 and was at the forefront of the movement for Puerto Rican independence until his arrest and imprisonment in 1936.
A number of muggings have occurred here, so be careful.
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Plaza del Quinto Centenario
It's surprising to find such a modern square shoehorned in among all the architectural antiques, but the small Plaza del Quinto Centenario was built in 1992 to honor the 500-year anniversary of Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the Americas.
Constructed for a rumored cost of around US$10 million and decorated with a craning totem pole - El Tótem Telúrico - of ambiguous significance, the plaza offers great views over El Morro and the ocean and, from a distance, blends in subtly with the surrounding buildings.
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House
Once the residence of a political reformer and Puerto Rico’s first representative to the Spanish court, this restored 18th-century house is now the headquarters of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico. The house contains limited exhibits of Taíno artifacts along with a small gift shop, and highlights the precarious nature of much of the island’s ecology. The staff can be helpful with information about visiting the trust’s other island properties.
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Balneario de Carolina
Wedged in between the high rise hotel strip of Isla Verde and rustic delights of Piñones, the Balneario de Carolina is a fine, clean beach that lacks natural shelter and is positioned a little incongruously right in front of LMM international airport. Equipped with plenty of lifeguards, bathrooms, showers, barbecue pits and rather weird red sculptures, the beach can be pleasantly peaceful in the week if you can ignore the noise from 747s taking off. Parking costs $3.
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Museo de Casals
On Plaza de San José is the Museo de Casals. A native of Spain’s proud but repressed province of Catalonia, world-famous cellist Pablo Casals moved to his mother’s homeland of Puerto Rico in 1956 to protest the dictatorial regime of Francisco Franco in Spain. He quickly established the respected Festival Casals for classical music, which became a principal force in the subsequent flowering of the arts on the island.
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