San Juan History

History of San Juan

Puerto Rico, although not a state in the United States, is an island considered part of the United States of America. Found in the northwestern region of Puerto Rico is the island's capital of San Juan. San Juan is the largest municipio in all of Puerto Rico, not to mention it is also the oldest. San Juan is so old in fact that it is considered as the oldest city in all the cities that fall under American flag.

The history of San Juan began when the first settlement built by Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon in Guaynabo which was an area south of San Juan was moved to San Juan. The conquistador's settlement of adventurers and conquistadores was dubbed as Puerto Rico which means good port. This port which the Spaniards thought was so good is known all over the world as San Juan Port and it is still considered today as a very fine harbor and sea port.

Later on, the settlement of Puerto Rico was given a more formal name in accordance to the tradition of naming colonies and settlements twice, giving it a formal name and a retaining the name by which it was first called when Christopher Columbus explored lands in the Americas and named them. Thus, from Puerto Rico the settlement was given the name of San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico. San Juan Bautista refers to John the Baptist, considered a Christian prophet and saint as well as cousin and forerunner to Jesus Christ.

Because of the existence of such a wonderful natural harbor in San Juan, it did not take long for merchants and other vessels coming to or from the “New World” to stopover San Juan. The settlement grew rapidly and the Spanish instantly saw its great potential as a sort of central port for vessels departing in search of new lands to discover in the New World as well as for merchant vessels bringing raw materials from the islands to Spain. Great walls and other fortifications were built in San Juan, many of which are still standing even up to this moment.

San Juan became an extremely valuable settlement for Spain which lead to the jealousy and irritation of other nations also in the race to discovering lands from the New World. British Vice Admiral Sir Francis Drake who is known to be one of the English fleet leaders fighting against the Spanish Armada was so frustrated with the fortifications built around San Juan that he attacked the city on 1595. In the following centuries, the city underwent several other attacks yet it continued to expand, integrating other cities and towns surrounding the area.

Now in the 21st century, what we know of San Juan's territory is not just limited to the small enclosed area within the original walls in Old San Juan. Barrios such as Santurce, Rio Piedras and Hato Rey have long been considered as part of San Juan, Puerto Rico. All throughout most of its history, the San Juan harbor played a major role in the development and growth of the city and it continues to do so even at present.