Cementerio Maria Magdalena de Pazzis

On day four, our last day in San Juan, we decided to go back to the fort to explore the rest of the fort. Castillo de San Cristabol is actually the newer section of the fort, built over a hundred years after the first fortification, Castillo de San Felipe del Marro. San Cristabol is an impressive and beautiful structure. The newer space is refined and clearly built with both beauty and functionality in mind. Castillo De San Felipe del Marro, or El Morro for short, looks and feels like a fortification.

Today, there were no cruise ships in port. Traffic was clear, the streets were easily navigated. We walked up to Castillo de San Cristabol, and from there skirted protected fortifications along Norzagaray, a street that borders the ruins of the fort. The city has overrun the old fort. In the late 16th Century as the fortifications were being built, the fort was the city. Walls, some still present between houses and businesses which have grown up over the centuries over and around the original fortifications. Here one can see progress covering up history. The two main fortifications are separated by about a 3/4 mile of walking. We decided that instead of waiting for a trolley to take us to El Morro, we would walk.

Along the way, I encountered an interesting site. In fact we would encounter these in every town and village we would visit from here on out. In the middle of this bustling city was a colorful outdoor basketball court. Bleachers sat on one side facing a court decorated in brilliant colors that reflected

Carmelo's Court 

the colors of many of the houses in the neighborhood. What caught my attention was a name in huge white font across one side of the court: Carmelo Anthony Court. I am no aficionado of the NBA, but even that name rings a bell. This court was built by Anthony in the La Perla neighborhood, a low income neighborhood of Old San Juan. Since then, Anthony's foundation has built 4 other courts in low income neighborhoods and villages across Puerto Rico promoting the Puerto Rican's beloved sport, Basketball. Two sports reign supreme here, basketball and baseball. There are multiple venues for these sports even in the smallest villages. An older gentleman stopped and watched me take pictures of the court, and in broken English agreed that the court was beautiful, he was proud of it, you could tell. Then, he invited us into his neighborhood to visit, and see the beauty of his community. La Perla is a paradox, low income houses situated right on the island shore, facing the majestic beauty of the ocean. 

We arrived at the terrace of El Morro. The terrace is several football fields long and wide. It is a huge expanse of space that serves as an open space public park. There, we saw youth programs doing exercises on the lawn, smoothie vendors, fruit vendors, families picnicking, and kite vendors, yes, KITES. The green space is huge and without buildings or trees to slow the ocean breezes down, the constant flow of wind is ideal for kite flying. Children and Families were flying kites, over a dozen in the air. The atmosphere was festive and it felt like the city's gathering place.

El Morro is flanked on the North by Cementerio Maria Magdalena de Pazzis. A beautiful historic cemetery and chapel in Old San Juan. The fort itself also houses a still active automated lighthouse. Its architecture is much more rustic, more simple, the fort was built for defense not comfort. Even the refined rooms held a more simple beauty, archways were simple. You can see the differences in the architecture in the images of the two sets of archways.

I did not want to leave Old San Juan, it held the allure of beautiful architecture, narrow cobblestone streets and history. Perhaps, another day, we will find our way back to explore more. After another long day of walking, climbing, looking and talking, Terri and I headed out of Old San Juan and South West, across the island to Guanica, our next stopping point and the start of new adventures. 

Archways at Castillo de San Cristabol

Archways at El Morrow