The Great Ganesha

[Originally on Desicritics]

One section of the capital of Puerto Rico - San Juan - has cobbled streets, brightly colored buildings and beautiful sculptures. This part, called Old San Juan, shows the strong influence the Spanish had on Puerto Rico, and also has several historical monuments and forts. The old city is very small and very dense and we took a self-guided walking tour.

We started with a view of the marina, and an old sail-ship moored there.

Next, we walked by La Aduana, the old, pink Customs House, which is still used by the US and Puerto Rican port authorities.

Across the street from the Customs House, is a corner of the wall that once enclosed the old city. And there’s a watchtower there, which are the icons of San Juan, as you can see at the bottom of the pic.

From there, we walked along the wall, and passed by some old statues which precede La Princesa - formerly, a jail (and now an art museum).

The statue on the left is part of a set of three that’s displayed prominently. Although I’ve looked around a little bit, I’ve not been able to find out exactly who created them, or how old they are, or what they stand for.

Being on a limited schedule, we didn’t stop in at the museum, but its huge white wall had ornate brackets for their lamps, and there were some other travelers taking a break, perhaps.

We walked on to Raices (meaning ‘roots’), an imposing bronze sculpture and fountain. The fountain represents the Taino, European and African ancestors of the modern-day Puerto Rican. Here’s a detail.

The large city wall then turns a corner and pushing us to the edge of the water, left a narrow path to walk down on…

…but also gave a nice view of one of the city’s edges.

Going inside the wall and entering the city from the San Juan gate, we were hit in the face with a gulmohar tree sandwiched between two colorful buildings, offering some welcome shade.

Looking back, we saw the inside of the San Juan gate which looks out on to the bay (or bahia). Here’s a detail.

Taking a side-road led us up to a view of some of Old San Juan’s famed colored houses, some of which have been around since the Spanish colonial era. This view looks down Calle Sol (or Sun Street).

To the left, we saw Plazuela de la Rogativa, on which there is a statue commemorating a march made by a bishop and some townswomen to scare off the British (it worked).

Beyond the statue is a nice panorama of new San Juan, sandwiched between two watchtowers.

To the right, is a beautiful old house with a mural of Mary and Jesus.

From there, we walked up a small pathway, past the Instituto de Culturo Puertorrique?a…

…and on to Fuerto San Felipe del Morro also known as the El Morro fortress, which is surrounded by a vast field.

We got there at closing time, so we didn’t really get a chance to go in, but across the street from El Morro are two great sculptures. Again, I can’t seem to find any info on the who/why/when, but they’re definitely worth a look.

Walking away from Casa Blanca (the ancestral home of Ponce De Leon’s descendants) we passed by some colorful walls.

You turn right on to Calle Cristo and see the blue-ish cobbled path in all its glory - a trademark of Old San Juan.

At the end of the road is the Capilla del Cristo (Chapel of Christ), in front of which we saw a family having dinner in the middle of the road.

Also on the Calle Cristo is the Catedral de San Juan Bautista or the San Juan Cathedral.

On the way back to the car, we passed some locals rapt in animated conversation at the street corner.

Alas, all good things must come to an end and we too, had to say goodbye to our island in the sun.