San Cristobal Fort - Guardian of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

Old San Juan is an island and this fort protected it from the land side.

In fact it's quite a hike to get up to this first level.  Then there are the marching grounds above.  The round things are where the wells are for the water that was collected in rain storms.  No animals were allowed because they wanted to keep the water clean.  They said they could store enough water for the fort for a whole year.

Up to the next level where the cannons were placed.  They weren't worried about attacks from the sea on the one side--there was another fort for that.  On the land side there were places for the cannons to shoot.  If you look carefully you can see the current government building that looks like a capitol building.

Here's  how the soldiers in the fort slept.  We were told that the average height of a soldier was 4' 10".  I believe it--I could barely fit through some of the doors standing upright.

Here's a view from San Cristobal looking toward the fort that protected from sea invaders, El Morro, on the other end of the island. The territory to the right in between the forts is the city's ghetto. Don't go there!

Last, here is a picture of the view down into Old San Juan from the fort.  If you look closely you can see Colon Square with the statue of Christopher Columbus (discoverer of the island) in the middle.