| Recomended for: | Sightseeing, Family, Explorers |
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| Tags: | Plaza de Colón, Old San Juan, park, plaza, Teatro Tapia, fort, Puerta de Santiago, chapel, saint, patron, arms, cathedral, original, Christopher Columbus, expedition, New World, renovated, marble, bronze, statue, explorer, Schille Canessa, San Francisco, streets, San Cristobal, fortaleza |
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Description: Directly in front of Teatro Tapia and near Fort San Cristóbal, you’ll find Plaza de Colón. With the completion of the city walls in 1638, the only entryway through the fortified structures and into San Juan by land was La Puerta de Santiago. A chapel dedicated to the Patron Saint of Spanish Arms was erected in the same site, giving the plaza its first name, Plaza Santiago. A procession with horse-carriages in honor of the saint was organized every year up to 1868. On July 25th the image of the saint was carried all the way to the San Juan Cathedral. During the 19th century, the original plaza underwent a series of structural changes. To celebrate the 400-year anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s first expedition to the New World, the plaza was renovated once again. A marble and bronze statue of the explorer, by Genevan sculptor Schille Canessa, was placed on the plaza, thereby giving it its new name: Plaza de Colón. |
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