PUERTO RICO DAY 2

On our second day we visited Castillo de San Cristobal or Saint Christopher Castle. This is the largest fort in Puerto Rico, and the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the Western Hemisphere. Completed in 1785, it covers 27 acres of land and rises almost 150 feet above sea level. Built to guard against a land assault from the east, San Cristóbal is an example of the “defense-in-depth” architectural model. This was a tiered network of fortifications that would force an enemy to face several defensive barriers before the fort was breached. San Cristóbal fired the first shot of the Spanish-American War in 1898. In 1942, the U.S. army built World War II bunkers on the northen face of the fort.