If you’re visiting San Juan, Old San Juan Puerto Rico that is, then there’s one place that have to visit. It’s called the Maritime Museum, or “Museo del Mar”, as the locals call it, and it’s located on #360 San Francisco Street. That’s just a few doors up on your left hand side as you enter the Old City.
Old San Juan was founded in 1521 by Spanish Conquistador, and first governor of Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de León. That makes Old San Juan the third oldest capital in the New World after Havana (1514) and Santo Domingo de Guzmán (1496). That other little town, on the northeast coast of Florida, is 44 years younger.
As you must have noticed by now, I’m talking about Old San Juan, not plain San Juan. What’s the difference? Old San Juan is the original colonial town that was surrounded by a city wall until 1897. The rest of the municipality is called San Juan and it grew throughout the years until it incorporated what used to be the municipality of Río Piedras on July 1, 1951.
Today’s San Juan is surrounded by Carolina and Trujillo Alto to the east, Caguas and Aguas Buenas to the south and Guaynabo to the west. Cataño, while across the bay from San Juan, doesn’t have a physical border or county line with San Juan.
Click on image to watch the video
Throughout the centuries Puerto Rico has played a key role in migratory and colonial activities. Pre-colonial tribes used it as a stopover point during their travels to and from the lesser and greater Antilles. Later on the conquering Spanish forces used it as a key navigation point for the Situado Mexicano, being the first port of call on the way from Spain to America and the last on the way from America to Spain.
Finally, in 1898 Puerto Rico was invaded by the United States and has since played a key role during two World Wars and several conflicts. In 1917 Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. Citizenship under the Jones-Shafroth Act and two moths later 20,000 Islanders were drafted for World War 1. Coincidence? What do you think?
So what does all this have to do with a Maritime Museum in Old San Juan? Furthermore, why do we even have one in Puerto Rico when the Island doesn’t even have a navy. Well, as it turns out, much of Puerto Rico’s history actually happened at sea. In fact, many of history’s most respected captains were defeated off the coast of San Juan. In many ways this had a ripple effect on subsequent events that helped shape cities on both American continents.
On September 7 my wife Zory and I visited the Maritime Museum (“Museo del Mar”) as guests of Mr. Manuel Minero (the Museum’s Director) and Mr. Carlos L. Vera (Museum Educator), our guide for the day. It was a wonderful experience that lasted well over two hours.
The Museum is the third or fourth building on your left hand side after you pass the corner of San Francisco and O’Donnel streets. It’s a narrow building, painted in gray with white trim, that looks rather small at first glance. But don’t be fooled. The building more than makes up in depth what it lacks in width. Besides, the Museum has so many items that it actually holds a Guinness World Record. For what exactly? I’ll tell you in a minute.
When we got to the Museum Mr. Carlos Vera was already there waiting for us. So the tour started immediately. I could try to tell you word for word the many things that he told us, but that would be an exercise in futility, because I could never say things as well as he did. Besides, why would I even try when I spent well over a week editing the accompanying video where he says things in his own words.
Instead, the purpose of this post is to show you some pictures of the Museum and tell you about my experience. Paraphrasing Mr. Vera’s words, the Maritime Museum (“Museo del Mar”) caters to anyone remotely interested in the history of Puerto Rico (in particular) and of America (in general).
There was a time in my life when I was a “professional student”. That’s what they called students at the University of Puerto Rico that enrolled but never seemed to graduate. In my case, I held a job at our local phone company and studied mostly at night. Other times I was forced to drop out because my day job didn’t allow me to keep up with my college courses.
During that time there were also times when I couldn’t find the courses that I needed, so I took history courses instead. Not that I needed them, but I just liked history and literature. The funny thing was that I was enrolled in the Natural Science faculty. By the time I graduated I had more credits in history than in Science. I also had dozens of credits in Spanish and English literature.
By the way, there’s an excellent Museum of History, Anthropology and Art at the University of Puerto Rico’s Río Piedras Campus that I cover quite extensively in a previous article.
As you might imagine, none of that knowledge went to waste during my 25+ years as a communications consultant for the pharmaceutical sector (some day I’ll tell you about that). Neither did it go to waste during our visit to the Maritime Museum.
Mr. Vera is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to Puerto Rico’s history and the way it interweaves with that of North, Central and South America. So we were able to explore intricate angles and take unexpected turns during our 2+ hour conversation.
According to Vera, some visitors to the Museum are surprised to learn how interconnected the history of Puerto Rico is with that of the United States. And they’re even more surprised that it would still be interconnected even if the island-territory never had a political relationship with the Mainland.
The Maritime Museum (“Museo del Mar”) is filled to the brim with authentic documents and articles as well as exact replicas made by the world’s most renown experts. There are also dozens of storyboards and photos to illustrate every event and every era. But the key elements in the Museum experience are the attendants. They actually breath life into every piece through their profound knowledge and storytelling abilities. My attendant in particular was Mr. Vera, but I was told that there are others that are just as knowledgeable.
So why is this museum worthy of a Guinness World Record? Well, if you have ever been on a boat of any size (a ship is just a very big boat) you’ll know what a “throwable flotation device” or PFD is. They are those round floating devices that they throw at you when you’re trying to keep your head above water in the middle of the ocean. Most of the time they’re orange, but they also come in white. Oh, and the letters “PFD”? Glad you asked! Those stand for “Personal Flotation Device”.
Well, the Maritime Museum (“Museo del Mar”) has over 100 PFDs. The record is for 100, but they actually have 101. Talk about overachievers! They have “throwables” or PFDs from many of modern history’s most memorable ships.
Throwables or PFDs aren’t a new thing. The fact is that they’ve been around since 860 BC. So why didn’t I ask Mr. Vera which one was the oldest they had? I guess I had to leave something for you to ask! Right?
If you’re staying in Old San Juan your best bet will be to walk to the Museum. Passengers arriving on cruise ships will find the walk easy and entertaining. Just check out the map below for the exact location.
If you’re coming from the Isla Verde or Condado areas, and you have a rental car, just follow the directions in our accompanying video. The “Covadonga”, “Galería Paseo Portuario” and Municipal Parking garages are all excellent options. And finally, if you’re coming by taxi or Uber just ask your driver to leave you at #360 San Francisco Street.
Finally, the Maritime Museum (“Museo del Mar”) should take between 11/2 and 3 hours to explore it thoroughly. That means that you’ll have plenty of time to visit other attractions in San Juan.
And talking about San Juan, if you’re planning to visit the Old City, save yourself the hassle of traditional city tours. They’re expensive and you’ll be herded along with people that won’t necessarily share your interests.
Instead, order The Old San Juan Walking Tour. It’s packed with useful information about all the main attractions, as well as every GPS coordinate and two hours of exclusive online video. That way you’ll be able to —visit before you visit— and hit the ground running when you arrive in the Old City.
See you next time!
©2024,Orlando Mergal, MA
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