San Juan
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San Juan, capital and largest city of Puerto Rico, located on the northern coast of the island, on the Atlantic Ocean. A major port and tourist resort of the West Indies, it is the oldest city now under U.S. jurisdiction. Originally, the settlement was known as Puerto Rico and the island as San Juan, but common usage over the centuries brought about a reversal of the names. Pop. (2000) 426,618; San JuanâCaguasâGuaynabo Metro Area, 2,509,007; (2010) 381,931; San JuanâCaguasâGuaynabo Metro Area, 2,478,905.
History and architecture
In 1508 the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de LeĂłn founded the original settlement, Caparra, on the almost landlocked harbour just to the west of the present metropolitan area. In 1521 the settlement was moved to a rocky islet at the harbour entrance. Casa Blanca (âWhite Houseâ) was begun that same year and was owned by Ponce de LeĂłnâs family until the late 18th century. In 1533 the Spanish began construction of massive fortifications in response to attacks by native Taino and by rival European powers. The bulwark-palace known as La Fortaleza, built near Casa Blanca, was the first of the new defenses (it now houses the governorâs mansion). San Felipe del Morro castle (also called El Morro) was constructed next, on a high bluff overlooking San Juan Bay.
In the early 16th century San Juan was the point of departure for Spanish expeditions to unknown parts of the New World. Its fortifications repulsed the English navigator Sir Francis Drake in 1595 as well as later attackers, but George Clifford, 3rd earl of Cumberland, captured it briefly in 1598, and a Dutch force took the city from the landward side in 1625. In response, the fortress of San CristĂłbal, the largest Spanish fort in the New World, was built to the northeast, and, from 1634 to 1638, walls were erected across the southern part of the city, facing the harbour. The bastions existing today were largely added during the period 1765â83. In May 1898 the guns of San CristĂłbal engaged a U.S. fleet that bombarded the city. Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory under the terms of the Treaty of Paris that same year.
Ponce de LeĂłn is buried in San Juanâs cathedral, which was begun in 1521 and rebuilt in 1540 and again in 1802. San JosĂ© Church, begun in 1532, is the oldest church in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere. La Casa del CallejĂłn (âHouse of the Narrow Streetâ) includes museums of colonial architecture and of Puerto Rican family life. La Casa del Libro (1955; âHouse of the Bookâ) is a rare-book library and museum housed in an 18th-century structure. Ponce de LeĂłnâs Casa Blanca has been converted into a historical museum, and another 18th-century house has become a museum preserving the manuscripts, personal effects, and instruments of Spanish cellist Pablo Casals, who lived in Puerto Rico from 1956 to 1973. San Juan National Historic Site (1949) includes the El Morro and San CristĂłbal fortifications; this area, along with La Fortaleza, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.
The contemporary city
In the 20th century San Juan expanded rapidly beyond its walled confines (now known as Old San Juan) to incorporate suburban Miramar, Santurce, and Condado, along the coast, as well as industrial Hato Rey, with its large sports stadium and modern financial district, and the town of RĂo Piedras, immediately to the southeast. By 1980 the San Juan metropolitan area included the surrounding municipalities to the east and west and had about one-third of Puerto Ricoâs total population; that proportion has grown to two-thirds of the population. In a move to decentralize the old city, many government offices and agencies were moved across the bay, but the governorâs palace has remained in use. Traffic congestion became a serious problem as the city grew, and, in an effort to reduce automobile use, the first line of a regional rapid-transit rail system opened in 2004.
The San Juan metropolitan area is the largest industrial and processing centre of the island, with facilities for petroleum and sugar refining, tobacco processing, brewing, and rum distilling. Cement, pharmaceuticals, metal products, and clothing are also produced. San Juan is the islandâs financial capital, and many U.S. banks and corporations maintain offices or distributing centres there. Tourism is a major component of the local economy, visitors being drawn to the extensively restored Old San Juan district and the areaâs luxury resort hotels (particularly in Condado). The port of San Juan handles both cargo and a large number of cruise ships, and the cityâs international airport (named after Luis Muñoz MarĂn, the islandâs first elected governor) is just outside Old San Juan; both facilities are among the busiest in the Caribbean.
The main campus of the University of Puerto Rico (1903) is located in the RĂo Piedras barrio (ward) of San Juan. The medical campus and other facilities of the university also are located in San Juan. In 1957 the university became the home of the Casals Festival (now held in Santurce, San Juanâs chief residential suburb), founded by Pablo Casals. The cityâs other educational institutions include the University of the Sacred Heart (1935) and a campus of the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico (1912). The Puerto Rico Museum of Art, combining a new five-story structure with a former hospital building, opened in 2000. Notable annual events in addition to the Casals Festival are the San Sebastian Street Festival in January and the San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist) Festival in June.
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