Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art - MAC, the museum features art created since the mid-twentieth century to the present in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and Latin America ( ) Museum of Art of Puerto Rico - MAPR, art museum and home of Puerto Rican art, showcased in the building of the former municipal hospital ( ). La Fortaleza (Palacio de Santa Catalina), the official residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico was built between 15. Both citadels, the Castillo San Felipe del Morro, and the Castillo San Cristóbal are UNESCO World Heritage Sites ( /en/list/266). Large sections of the Old Town are now part of the San Juan National Historic Site ( nps.gov/saju/), managed by the National Park Service. El Morro (Castillo San Felipe del Morro) was the first fortification on the island, construction of the citadel began in 1539, and there is the 16th-century citadel, the Castle of San Cristóbal (Castillo San Cristóbal), built between 1765–1783, it was the largest fortification ever constructed by the Spanish in the Americas. It is the heart of the historic part of the city with its colonial buildings lining narrow streets, and its long-standing defensive walls and forts of Puerto Rico built to protect the city and the Bay of San Juan from English and Dutch attacks. One of the city's main tourist attractions is Old San Juan (Viejo San Juan) on the Isleta de San Juan. The University of Puerto Rico with its 11 campuses and about 58,000 students is based in San Juan.Īerial view of Old San Juan cruise terminal at Calle Marina. Transportation, manufacturing, banking, and tourism are the economic muscle of the city and the nation. San Juan is Puerto Rico's most important seaport it is one of the busiest ports in the Caribbean and Latin America. The city is the island's core for almost anything. Official languages are Spanish (Puerto Rican Spanish) and English. It is the second most populous city in the Caribbean, only surpassed by Santo Domingo. 2015), 2.5 million live in its metropolitan area (2010). Today San Juan is inhabited by about 355,000 people (est.

That first settlement was abandoned, and the colonists moved to the Islet of Puerto Rico (now Isleta de San Juan) in 1521 to establish a new town which they named 'Villa de Puerto Rico.' Making it the second oldest European-established city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. Soon after, Spanish colonists arrived and established a settlement in 1508. Christopher Columbus 'discovered' the island more than 500 years ago, in 1493. San Juan is a city with a rich Spanish heritage. Aerial view of Santurce, one of the 18 districts (or barrios) of San Juan and its most populated.

Viejo san juan puerto rico map