El Morro Castle

El Morro Castle, or El Castillo Del Morro, is an old fort that lies on San Juan's northernmost point in Puerto Rico

With its black colored walls and spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean, El Morro was occupied by the Spaniards many centuries ago. They used the Morro area known as Garita Del Diablo (Devil's Gate) to execute Indians and Blacks who had come with them as slaves from Africa. Many legends surround the Garita Del Diablo.

Today, El Morro Castle is one of Puerto Rico's main touristic sites and museums, displaying some of the artifacts that Spaniards, Indians and Africans of that time used and other exhibits, such as ship models of those times and rooms with written descriptions of what happened then. Tourists and locals enjoy flying kites in the ocean wind on the acres of grass surrounding the castle.

In a weird geographic twist, the first thing tourists flying or going to Puerto Rico by sea see from their planes and boats, is El Morro.

There is also another famous castle named El Morro, this one in Havana, Cuba.

El Morros sister castle, Castillo De San Cristobal, lies about 5 minutes driving distance from El Morro.

See also: List of noted Puerto Rican buildings.