• Puerto Rico—Riches in the Sun
    Awake!—2008 | October

    • A Visit to Old San Juan

      The walled city, known as Old San Juan, contrasts with the bustling modern metropolis that surrounds it. Old San Juan looks like a ship afloat in the ocean. Practically surrounded by the sea, its headland, or “prow,” juts out defiantly into the Atlantic. On this strategic wedge lies El Morro, the Spanish fort that protected the harbor entrance. Behind El Morro walled ramparts line both coastlines of the narrow isthmus, which is shaped somewhat like the bow of a ship. A mile to the east stands another huge fortress called San Cristóbal, which served to defend the “stern” against any possible attack by land. Sandwiched between these two forts lies Old San Juan, designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1983.

      The old city has been carefully restored. Residents paint their houses with lively pastel colors, drape their wrought-iron balconies with colorful flowers, and fill their courtyards with tropical plants. The bluish-gray cobblestones that were used to pave San Juan’s narrow streets originated in the iron mines of Spain. Slag from the mines was formed into cobblestones and used as ballast by Spanish ships traveling to Puerto Rico.