History

Founding

There is evidence that the city of San Germánia existed as far back as 1573. A letter sent to Spain's king Philip II talked about a city with the names of Nueva Salamanca and San Germán. Spanish conquerors used the name Nueva Salamanca to honor the city of Salamanca in Spain.

The actual city of San Germán originated around the same time as the colonization of Puerto Rico began. While the city itself was never located in the southern coast of the island, a statement commonly mentioned, but wrong, its history is closely tied with the town of Santa Maria de Guadianilla. The town was founded by order of Juan Ponce de León after a Taíno uprising on February 1511. This initial town was destroyed by French corsairs and the populace retreated inland.

In November 1511, Juan Ponce de León handed over the governorship of Puerto Rico to Juan Cerón, lieutenant to Viceroy Diego Colón. Cerón ordered Miguel de Toro, a lieutenant of Juan Ponce de León, to create a "Christian township" on the western part of Boriquen, calling it San Germán. This town was established on December 1511 on the mouth of the Guaorabo River, near the area known today as Añasco. This town was attacked by French corsairs in August 1528, May 1538 and 1554. The construction of a small fort began on 1540, but work stopped on 1546, when the population of the town began moving inland. Even with the exodus of people, the port of Guaorabo was still used by those who left.

On May 12, 1570, the Royal Audience of Santo Domingo (See Audiencia) ordered that both the populations of San Germán and Santa Maria de Guadianilla be merged into a single city due to the constant attacks. The new city would be built on the hills of Santa Marta, next to the Guanajibo River, on 1573. Its official name was Nueva Villa de Salamanca, named after the city of Salamanca, in Spain. However, the population would call the city San Germán el Nuevo (The New San Germán) and, eventually, the Villa de San Germán (The Village of San Germán).

Old San Juan

Main article: Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

Buildings in Old San JuanIn 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 island, which comprises an area of 47 sq. mi./122 km²., also hosts the working class neighborhood of Puerta de Tierra, which is also the site of most of Puerto Rico's central government buildings, including the commonwealth's capitol.

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, also known as La Fortaleza (begun in 1533), which serves as the governor's mansion. Other buildings of interest predating the nineteenth century are the Ayuntamiento or Alcaldia (City Hall), the San Jose Church (1523) and the adjacent former Dominican monastery; and the former house of the Ponce de Leon family known as Casa Blanca.

Other buildings of interest from Spanish colonial times, among many, are the Teatro Tapia, the Ayuntamiento (City Hall), the former Spanish barracks (now museum de Ballaja), La Princesa (former municipal jail, now a history museum), and the municipal cemetery of Saint María Madgalena de Pazzis, located just outside the city walls.

Also on the island where Old San Juan is situated is the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista (begun in the 1520s), which contains the tomb of the Spanish explorer and settlement founder Juan Ponce de León. Strict building codes enforce restoration.


Subjected to attacks

Ayuntamiento de San Juan (City Hall), Plaza de Armas in the foreground.San Juan was used as a stopover for ships returning from Spain, making it an important port in the Spanish system. However, this also made it the target of the foreign powers of the time. The Spanish built a network of fortifications to protect the transportation of gold and silver from the New World to Europe.

The city saw attacks from the English in 1595 by Sir Francis Drake and 1598 led by George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland. The artillery from the fortification of El Morro repelled Drake, however Clifford managed to land troops and lay siege to the city. A few months into the British occupation, Clifford was forced to abandon his expedition when his troops began to suffer from exhaustion and sickness. Later, the city was sacked by the Dutch in 1625, but Fort San Felipe del Morro withstood the assault and was never taken. The English returned in 1797, during the French Revolutionary Wars, led by Sir Ralph Abercromby, who had just conquered Trinidad. His army laid siege to the city but was forced to withdraw in defeat as the Puerto Rican defenses proved more resilient than those of Trinidad. Various events and circumstances, including liberalized commerce with Spain, opening of the island to immigrants, and the colonial revolutions, led to an expansion of the island and city in the late 18th and early 19th century.

In 1898, United States troops bombed, shelled and subsequently occupied the city during the Spanish-American War. Spanish rule ended after 1898 and the island became a territory of the United States of America.

 

San Juan today

Aerial view of El Morro. Image courtesy of USAF 1LT Fernandez.During the 20th century, the main population centers surged well beyond the walls of the old city, onto Puerto Rico's main island, and merged with existing settlements east and south of Old San Juan. As a result, the city now incorporates a diversity of neighborhoods.

East of Old San Juan lies the hotel and condominium filled district of Condado, which lies in land that used to be owned by Pablo Ubarri y Capetillo, Spanish railroad developer and Count of San José de Santurce under the Spanish colonial period. Beaches popular with swimmers and surfers are present all along the district's Atlantic coastline. On December 31, 1986, 97 people died in a fire set by disgruntled employees at the Dupont Plaza Hotel, near the Condado's geographical center.

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 erected. Miramar now hosts the Puerto Rico Convention Center, as well as some of San Juan Harbor's cruisehip 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 1850's, 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, is known as the most typically Latin American section 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.

Sports

San Juan hosted the 1979 Pan American Games, and made an unsuccessful bid for hosting the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Major League Baseball's Montreal Expos played 22 home games at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in both 2003 and 2004.

World Wrestling Entertainment pay per view New Year's Revolution was held here in January 2005. Additionally the area is home to the Carlos Colón wrestling family.

Diplomacy

San Juan hosts consular staff from 37 countries, mainly from Latin America and Western Europe. Other nations who have consular representation such as Finland, Iceland, and Nicaragua mainly have their consulates in a neighboring suburb:

• Austria
• Belize
• Bolivia
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• France
• Georgia
• Guatemala
• Germany
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• Monaco
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Poland
• Portugal
• Russia
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Thailand
• United Kingdom
• Uruguay

Sister Cities

• Honolulu
  

Notable Sanjuaneros

• Carlos Obed Baerga Ortiz - Major League Baseball player.
• José Campeche - first known Puerto Rican artist
• Justino Díaz (1940 - ) renowned Opera Singer
• José Enrique Pedreira - musician and composer
• José Julián Acosta - journalist
• José Miguel Agrelot (1927- 2004) - Actor & comedian - "Don Cholito"
• José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín (1898 - 1980) First Puerto Rican elected governor
• Manuel A. Alonso - writer
• Miguel Guerra Mondragón - Lawyer and Legislator
• Rafael Cordero - educator
• Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay - actor
• Ricardo E. Alegría - antropologist and archeologist
• Samuel R. Quiñones - Lawyer and Legislator
• Tomas Blanco - writer and historian
  

San Juan, Puerto Rico. (2006, October 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23:04, October 20, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=San_Juan%2C_Puerto_Rico&oldid=82426276