Fort San Cristobal | The Largest In America

http://www.puertoricobygps.com — Fort San Cristobal is the largest military structure built by the Spaniards in the New World. The original fort was completed in 1783 and it covered an area of 27 acres. Today the fort is part of the San Juan National Historic Site, which includes Fort San Cristobal, Fort San Felipe del Morro, Fort San Juan de la Cruz (better known locally as "El Cañuelo") and three fourths of the original city wall. The other third of the city wall was demolished in 1897, along with a significant part of Fort San Cristobal, to help ease the flow of traffic in and out of the walled city. Even so, Fort San Cristobal is still the largest military fortification built by the Spaniards in the New World.

The main objective of Fort San Cristobal was to protect the city of San Juan from land attacks coming from the east, while Fort San Felipe del Morro and Fort San Juan de la Cruz protected the entrance to San Juan Bay.

Spanish forts in Puerto Rico were built using the latest technology of the day. And while they seem simple today, there are actually many engineering, architecture and military strategy tecniques built into the forts that still surprise the visitor. Be sure to ask your friendly park ranger about the construction of the city walls and the tunnels at Fort San Cristobal and Fort San Felipe del Morro. There's a lot more there than you might think.

The San Juan National Historic Site was added to the UNESCO Register of World Heritage Sites in 1983. It is operated by the United States National Park Service. For more information call 787-729-6777.

This video is not an official publication of the United States National Park Service. It only reflects the views of Orlando Mergal, a concerned local travel blogger that loves his beautiful island of Puerto Rico and showing it to the world.

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