The Isleta de San Juan (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for ''Islet of San Juan'') is a island in the

San Juan Bay San Juan Bay ( es, Bahía de San Juan) is the bay and main inlet adjacent to Old San Juan in northeastern Puerto Rico. It is about in length, the largest body of water in an estuary of about of channels, inlets and eight interconnected lagoons ...

in the Atlantic coast of northern

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. Home of

Old San Juan Old San Juan ( es, Viejo San Juan) is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the islet of San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Catedral, Marina, Mercado, San Cristóbal, and San Francisco sub-barrios (s ...

, it is the site of the oldest permanent European settlement in Puerto Rico (1521), and the second oldest European settlement in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

after

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

(1496). Due its strategic location in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

during the

Spanish colonization of the Americas Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish . The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions ...

it is home to a

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

and a number of militaristic buildings such as

El Morro Castle Castillo San Felipe del Morro, also known as El Morro, is a citadel built between 16th and 18th centuries in San Juan, Puerto Rico.ww ...

. Today it is also home to many of Puerto Rico's government buildings such as the territory's capitol building (

El Capitolio El Capitolio, or the National Capitol Building (''Capitolio Nacional de La Habana''), is a public edifice in Havana, the capital of Cuba. The building was commissioned by Cuban president Gerardo Machado and built from 1926 to 1929 under the ...

History

Isleta de San Juan had been inhabited since before the Spanish arrival to the Caribbean in 1492. Remains of a shell shed, and a fishing site were uncovered in 1937 (near the modern-day Puerto Rico National Guard Museum) in by archaeologist

Irving Rouse Benjamin Irving Rouse (August 29, 1913 – February 24, 2006) was an American archaeologist on the faculty of Yale University best known for his work in the Greater and Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean, especially in Haiti. He also conducted field ...

from the

University of Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. The island was first mapped in 1519 with the intention of surveying possible sites for a future home for the settlers of Caparra. Road connection with the main island of Puerto Rico was not completed until 1519. The town of Puerto Rico de San Juan Bautista was officially founded on July 20, 1521. Construction of

La Fortaleza La Fortaleza (lit., "The Fortress" ) is the official residence of the governor of Puerto Rico. It was built between 1533 and 1540 to defend the harbor of San Juan. The structure is also known as Palacio de Santa Catalina (Saint Catherine's Pala ...

, the Casa de la Contratación and Juan Ponce de León's residence of ''Casa Blanca'' began the same year. With the establishment of a port and other militaristic infrastructure, the original colonial settlement of San Juan kept growing in size until the 18th century when the town of El Roble (today

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

) took its place as the largest urban center in the region.

Geography

Isleta de San Juan is a small island measuring 3-square-mile (7.8 km²). It is separated from the main island of Puerto Rico by El Boquerón and the San Antonio Channel (''Caño de San Antonio''). The island is hilly and rocky. With the exception of its western end and its south coast, the island is partially surrounded by cliffs, and promontories such as El Morro in its northwestern end.

Human geography

The population center of Isleta de San Juan can be divided into west and east. Its western part includes the neighborhoods (''subbarrios'') of Ballajá, Catedral, Mercado, San Cristóbal,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

that constitute Old San Juan, and its eastern part constitutes the neighborhood of Puerta de Tierra, location of many of Puerto Rico's government buildings such as its capitol building.

Culture

The historic

Normandie Hotel The Normandie Hotel is a historic building located in the Isleta de San Juan, in San Juan, Puerto Rico which opened on October 10, 1942 as a hotel. Its design was inspired by the French transatlantic passenger ship SS ''Normandie'' in addition ...

is located in the Isleta de San Juan.

Demographics

Its population in 2010 was about 7,000.

Transportation

Isleta de San Juan is connected to the main island of Puerto Rico by three bridges and a causeway.

Dos Hermanos Bridge The Dos Hermanos Bridge is a bridge in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It connects the sector of Condado with the entrance to Old San Juan, crossing over the Condado Lagoon. It was designed and built by brothers Hernan and Sosthenes Behn, and opened in Ju ...

connects it to

El Condado Condado is an oceanfront, tree-lined, pedestrian-oriented upper middle to upper class community in Santurce. It is one of the forty subbarrios of Santurce in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Setting Condado is an upscale neighborhood located on the bea ...

, while the San Antonio Bridges connect it with

Isla Grande Isla Grande is a small island and Corregimientos of Panama, corregimiento in Portobelo District, Colón Province, Panama, off the Caribbean coast. It had a population of 1,037 . Its population as of 1990 was 626; its population as of 2000 was 1,05 ...

. Although no longer in use, the San Antonio Railroad Bridge is still preserved today. It used to provide railway connection between Old San Juan's Covadonga Terminal and the rest of Puerto Rico. Traffic into the island is normally closed during the San Sebastián Street Festival.

Gallery

Statues in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.jpg, Silhouette of Statues in Isleta de San Juan Chapel San Juan IMG 0465dd.jpg, Old San Juan traffic.jpg, Traffic in Isleta de San Juan Fort and building in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.jpg, Fort and building in Isleta de San Juan Street art, statues in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.jpg, Street art, statues in Isleta de San Juan Blue cobblestone streets of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.jpg, Blue cobblestone streets of Old San Juan

References

Geography of San Juan, Puerto Rico Islands of Puerto Rico {{SanJuanPR-geo-stub