The 10 Best Historic Sites in San Juan Metro Region, San Juan Metro Region

Located in front of Castillo San Felipe del Morro, the Cuartel de Ballaja was built from 1854 to 1864 in order to house the Spanish and Puerto Rican regiments in Old San Juan. After the 1898 invasion by the US Army, the US infantry occupied the Cuartel de Ballaja until 1936. During the Second World War, this structure became a hospital, and in 1976 the Puerto Rican government bought the building. Eventually, this beautiful structure was abandoned and decayed quickly. In 1992, as part of the commemoration of the 5th Centenary of the exchange between Europeans and the native peoples of the Americas, Ricardo Alegria--a famed Puerto Rican archaeologist-- proposed to remodel the Cuartel de Ballaja and create a museum dedicated to the Americas. Nowadays, the Cuartel de Ballaja is perfectly functional and houses the following: a dance school, a music school, the Museo de las Americas, the Puerto Rico Academy of the Spanish Language, and the State Office of Historic Conservation.

The San Antonio bastion was once a fortified construction next to Castillo San Felipe del Morro and it was meant as an added defense to the fort. In the 1800s, this bastion served as a guardhouse and as barracks for the soldiers. Nowadays, the San Antonio Bastion is one of the National Park Service's shops, where you can buy San Juan-themed souvenirs, books, and maps. El bastion de San Antonio (ahora la Casa de Guardia de San Antonio) fue una pequena fortificacion junto al Castillo San Felipe del Morro, y suponia reforzar la defensa al fuerte principal. En los 1800, esta estructura le sirvio de barraca a los soldados. Hoy dia es una de las tiendas del National Park Service, donde puedes comprar recuerdos de San Juan, libros, mapas, entre otros.

Consisting of 400 restored buildings from the 16th- and 17th-century Spanish colonial period, this area in San Juan is steeped in history with an old-world and romantic European charm.

The birthplace of the Pina Colada: a bronze plaque marks the site where Don Ramón Portas Mingot created the popular tropical drink.

This massive 27-acre series of fortifications is the largest the Spanish built in the New World.

A gallery devoted to island art, with 200 works by local artists.

Visitors can take guided tours through this World Heritage Site, a 40-room mansion completed in 1540 that was used to defend against foreign invaders.

Built in 1540 and the site where the body of Ponce de Leon is entombed, the the Catedral de San Juan is an authentic and rare New World example of medieval architecture.

Constructed to defend the San Juan coastline during the 17th and 18th centuries, this dramatic fortress rises 140 feet above the sea on a rocky promontory, and is composed of six huge levels of ramps, barracks, dungeons, turrets, towers and tunnels.