San Juan
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ABOUT SAN JUAN
San Juan, the capital and largest city in Puerto Rico is located in the
Northern Coastal Plains region in the karst zone. The city lies north of Aguas
Buenas and Caguas; east of Guaynabo and Bayamón; and west of Carolina and
Trujillo Alto. In Spanish colonial times, most of the urban population resided
in what is known now as Old San Juan. Old San Juan is located on the
western half of a small island (the Isleta de San Juan) connected to the
mainland by bridges and a causeway. The old city is the main cultural tourist
attraction for Puerto Rico, and the bay side is lined by slips for large cruise
ships. The core old city is characterized by its narrow cobblestone streets and
colonial buildings, and encompasses less than a mile by a mile and a half. The
buildings in Old San Juan date back to the 16th and 17th century. Parts of the
old city remain partly enclosed by massive walls and contains several defensive
structures and notable forts, such as Fort San Felipe del Morro (begun 1539)
and Fort San Cristóbal (17th century), both part of San Juan National Historic
Site, and El Palacio de Santa Catalina.
San Juan today
Near Condado are two separate business districts, Santurce and Miramar. Miramar
is mainly a residential area rising south of the Condado Lagoon. It comprises
the former barrio of Miraflores, as well as drained marshland and landfill in
which San Juan's first airport, the Isla Grande airport (proper name: Fernando
Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport) was build, Miramar now hosts the Puerto Rico
Convention Center, as well as some of San Juan Harbor's cruise ship piers.
Santurce, originally named San Mateo de Cangrejos (Saint Matthew of the Crabs),
was a settlement for freed African slaves during the early days of the city.
After Pablo Ubarri sought permission to link Santurce with San Juan proper via
trolley in 1878, the township was split in three parts and its main settlement
merged with the city and renamed using the Spanish spelling of Santurtzi (Saint
George in Basque), Ubarri's birthplace in Vizcaya, Spain. The "Museo de Arte de
Puerto Rico" (Art Museum of Puerto Rico) is located in Santurce.
South of Santurce is one of its former barrios, Hato Rey, which was grazing
ground for cattle owned by the royal government (hence its name, the King's
Herd in Spanish) as early as the 16th century. Hato Rey is now considered the
financial center of the island. A section of this district is often referred to
as the "Golden Mile" (actually 0.47 miles long), due in part to the many banks
and businesses located there.
In the southern part of the city is the mostly residential area of Río Piedras.
Río Piedras was a separate town, founded in the mid 1850s, which hosted sugar
cane plantations and the estates of some of San Juan's wealthiest inhabitants
(as well as their working class staff). The Spanish colonial governors also had
their summer home there, in land which eventually gave way to the main campus
of the University of Puerto Rico. In 1951 the municipalities of San Juan and
Río Piedras were merged to delimit San Juan's current city limits. Today Río
Piedras, home to a renowned traditional Plaza Del Mercado, comprises the
largest area of the municipality of San Juan.
As with many large metropolitan areas, automobile traffic congestion has been a
growing concern in the city which prompted city planners to build a metro
system dubbed "Tren Urbano" (The Urban Train) which is now in operation.
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