Puerto Rico - Viejo San Juan

Viejo San Juan or Old San Juan.

Sent by Maria-Isabel from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Old San Juan (Spanish: Viejo San Juan) is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the islet of San Juan in San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Catedral, Marina, Mercado, San Cristóbal, and San Francisco sub-barrios (sub-districts) of barrio San Juan Antiguo in the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico (read further).

Puerto Rico - Tropical Flowers

Tropical Flowers, Puerto Rico
From top left : Heliconia Hibiscus, Frangipani, Ginger (gengibre), Banana, Orchid (orquidea), Heliconia and Bromeliad.

Sent by Jare from Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico - Fort San Cristóbal

Fort San Cristobal
A compilation of Fort San Cristobal, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Sent by Jare from Puerto Rico.

This is from UNESCO : The entire historic site of San Juan with its different monumental components maintains, at the present, a balance between constructed and non-constructed zones. The Fortaleza is tangibly associated with the history of the New World and its explorers and colonists.

For the explorers and the colonists of the New World who came from the east, Puerto Rico was an obligatory stopping-place in the Caribbean. From this evolved its primordial strategic role at the beginning of the Spanish colonization. The island was for centuries a stake disputed by the Spanish, French, English and Dutch. The fortifications of the bay of San Juan, the magnificent port to which Puerto Rico owes its name, bear witness to its long military history.

San Juan had the first municipal government in the New World outside Santo Domingo, as well as the first military presidios in Spanish America. By the 19th century, the old city had become a charming residential and commercial district. The city itself, with its institutional buildings, museums, houses, churches, plazas and commercial buildings, is part of the San Juan Historic Zone which is administered by municipal, State and Federal agencies.

La Fortaleza is one among several, of the fortresses which protect it. Over the centuries, San Juan in fact protected Spain's empire against Carib Indians, pirates and the warships of other countries. This vast, coherent defensive system with ramparts, fortlets and fortresses, attesting formerly to its effectiveness and today to its historic significance. The principal components of this defensive system are, starting in the south:

* La Fortaleza, founded in 1530-40, enlarged at various periods, and heavily modified after 1846, is an exemplary monument of Hispano-American colonial architecture. It served at once as an arsenal, prison, and residence for the Governor-General of the island;
* El Morro, built to protect San Juan Bay, is situated on a rocky peak of land on the western extremity of the island. The fort is a triangular bastion perfectly conceived according to the strategy of the second half of the 18th century, when it was entirely remodelled. It eventually developed into a masterpiece of military engineering with stout walls, carefully planned steps and ramps for moving men and artillery. By the end of the 18th century, more than 400 cannon defended the fort, making it almost impregnable.
* San Cristóbal, with its dependencies, is another accomplished example of the military architecture of the second half of the 18th century.
* San Juan National Historic Site includes forts, bastions, powder houses, wall and El Cañuelo Fort, also called San Juan de la Cruz - defensive fortifications that once surrounded the old colonial portion of San Juan, Puerto Rico. El Cañuelo Fort is located at the Isla de Cabras at the western end of the entrance to San Juan Bay.

Puerto Rico - La Coca Fall at El Yunque National Forest

La Coca Fall, in El Yunque, Tropical Rain Forest.

Sent by Gomez from Puerto Rico.

This is from Wikipedia : El Yunque National Forest, formerly known as the Luquillo National Forest and the Caribbean National Forest, is located on the United States island of Puerto Rico. It is commonly known as only El Yunque, a Spanish approximation of the aboriginal Taino word "Yu-ke," thought by scholars to mean "White Lands." However the lightning storms that occur there were to the Spaniards the sound of a giant hammer hitting an anvil (yunque in Spanish).

It is also the name of the second highest mountain peak in the Forest (see El Yunque, Puerto Rico).

El Yunque is the only tropical rain forest in the United States National Forest System.

Puerto Rico - The Arecibo Observatory

Radar dish, Arecibo Observatory.

Sent by Gomez from Puerto Rico.

This is from Wikipedia : The Arecibo Observatory is a radio telescope located close to the city of Arecibo in Puerto Rico. It is operated by Cornell University under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. The observatory works as the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) although both names are officially used to refer to it. NAIC more properly refers to the organization that runs both the observatory and associated offices at Cornell University.

The observatory's 305 m (1,001 ft) radio telescope is the largest single-aperture telescope (cf. multiple aperture telescope) ever constructed. It carries out three major areas of research: radio astronomy, aeronomy (using both the 305 m telescope and the observatory's lidar facility), and radar astronomy observations of solar system objects. Usage of the telescope is gained by submitting proposals to the observatory, which are evaluated by an independent board of referees.

The telescope is visually distinctive and has been used in the filming of notable motion picture and television productions: as the villain's antenna in the James Bond movie GoldenEye, and Contact. The telescope received additional international recognition in 1999 when it began to collect data for the SETI@home project.

The center was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2008. The listing was announced as the featured listing in the National Park Service's weekly list of October 16, 2009.

Puerto Rico - La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico

"El Morro" fotress walls (or Fort San Felipe del Morro or Castillo San Felipe del Morro) in Old San Juan. Part of La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Sent by Gomez from Puerto Rico.

The entire historic site of San Juan with its different monumental components maintains, at the present, a balance between constructed and non-constructed zones. The Fortaleza is tangibly associated with the history of the New World and its explorers and colonists.

For the explorers and the colonists of the New World who came from the east, Puerto Rico was an obligatory stopping-place in the Caribbean. From this evolved its primordial strategic role at the beginning of the Spanish colonization. The island was for centuries a stake disputed by the Spanish, French, English and Dutch. The fortifications of the bay of San Juan, the magnificent port to which Puerto Rico owes its name, bear witness to its long military history.

San Juan had the first municipal government in the New World outside Santo Domingo, as well as the first military presidios in Spanish America. By the 19th century, the old city had become a charming residential and commercial district. The city itself, with its institutional buildings, museums, houses, churches, plazas and commercial buildings, is part of the San Juan Historic Zone which is administered by municipal, State and Federal agencies.

La Fortaleza is one among several, of the fortresses which protect it. Over the centuries, San Juan in fact protected Spain's empire against Carib Indians, pirates and the warships of other countries. This vast, coherent defensive system with ramparts, fortlets and fortresses, attesting formerly to its effectiveness and today to its historic significance. The principal components of this defensive system are, starting in the south:

• La Fortaleza, founded in 1530-40, enlarged at various periods, and heavily modified after 1846, is an exemplary monument of Hispano-American colonial architecture. It served at once as an arsenal, prison, and residence for the Governor-General of the island;
• El Morro, built to protect San Juan Bay, is situated on a rocky peak of land on the western extremity of the island. The fort is a triangular bastion perfectly conceived according to the strategy of the second half of the 18th century, when it was entirely remodelled. It eventually developed into a masterpiece of military engineering with stout walls, carefully planned steps and ramps for moving men and artillery. By the end of the 18th century, more than 400 cannon defended the fort, making it almost impregnable.
• San Cristóbal, with its dependencies, is another accomplished example of the military architecture of the second half of the 18th century.
• San Juan National Historic Site includes forts, bastions, powder houses, wall and El Cañuelo Fort, also called San Juan de la Cruz - defensive fortifications that once surrounded the old colonial portion of San Juan, Puerto Rico. El Cañuelo Fort is located at the Isla de Cabras at the western end of the entrance to San Juan Bay. (Source)

Puerto Rico - Mapcard

Map of Puerto Rico

Sent by Gomez from Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico - Old Spanish Lighthouses

Some of the old Spanish lighthouses that surrounds the entire island of Puerto Rico.

Sent by Peony who lives in Vieques of Puerto Rico. Thank you very much for this postcard.

Note : Postcards of lighthose is one of my wishlists.