NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 OLD SAN JUAN HISTORIC DISTRICT/DISTRITO HISTÓRICO DEL VIEJO SAN JUAN Page 1 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1. NAME OF PROPERTY Historic Name: Old San Juan Historic District/Distrito Histórico del Viejo San Juan Other Name/Site Number: Ciudad del Puerto Rico; San Juan de Puerto Rico; Viejo San Juan; Old San Juan; Ciudad Capital; Zona Histórica de San Juan; Casco Histórico de San Juan; Antiguo San Juan; San Juan Historic Zone 2. LOCATION Street & Number: Western corner of San Juan Islet. Roughly bounded by Not for publication: Calle de Norzagaray, Avenidas Muñoz Rivera and Ponce de León, Paseo de Covadonga and Calles J. A. Corretejer, Nilita Vientos Gastón, Recinto Sur, Calle de la Tanca and del Comercio. City/Town: San Juan Vicinity: State: Puerto Rico County: San Juan Code: 127 Zip Code: 00901 3. CLASSIFICATION Ownership of Property Category of Property Private: X Building(s): ___ Public-Local: X District: _X_ Public-State: X_ Site: ___ Public-Federal: _X_ Structure: ___ Object: ___ Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing 699 128 buildings 16 6 sites 39 0 structures 7 19 objects 798 119 Total Number of Contributing Resources Previously Listed in the National Register: 772 Name of Related Multiple Property Listing: NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form ((Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 OLD SAN JUAN HISTORIC DISTRICT/DISTRITO HISTÓRICO DEL VIEJO SAN JUAN Page 2 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Plaaces Registration Form 4. STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that tthis ____ nomination ____ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property _____ meets ____ does not meet the Natioonal Register Criteria. Signature of Certifying Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau In my opinion, the property ____ meets ____ does not meet the National Register criteria. Signature of Commenting or Other Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau 5. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that this property is: ___ Entered in the National Register ___ Determined eligible for the National Register ___ Determined not eligible for the National Register ___ Removed from the National Register ___ Other (explain): Signature of Keeper Date of Action NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 OLD SAN JUAN HISTORIC DISTRICT/DISTRITO HISTÓRICO DEL VIEJO SAN JUAN Page 3 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 6. FUNCTION OR USE Historic Category: Domestic Sub: single dwelling, multiple dwelling, secondary structure, hotel, institutional housing Category: Commerce and Trade/Business Sub: professional organizational, financial institution, Specialty store, department store, restaurant, warehouse Category: Social Sub: meeting house, clubhouse, civic Category: Government Sub: governor’s palace, city hall, jail, custom house, post office, courthouse Category: Education Sub: school, college, research facility, education-related Category: Religion Sub: religious facility, church school, church-related residence Category: Funerary Sub: cemetery, mortuary Category: Recreation and Culture Sub: theater, sports facility, outdoor recreation, monument/marker, work of art Category: Agriculture /Subsistence Sub: processing, storage, agricultural, animal facility, fishing facilities Category: Industry/Processing /Extraction Sub: manufacturing facility, waterworks, energy facility, communications facility, industrial storage Category: Health Care Sub: hospital, clinic, sanitarium, medical business /office, resort Category: Defense Sub: arms storage, fortification, military facility, battle site, coast guard facility, naval facility. Category: Landscape Sub: park, plaza, garden, unoccupied land, natural features, street furniture/object. Category: Transportation Sub: rail-related, water-related, road-related, pedestrian related Current Category: Domestic Sub: single dwelling, multiple dwelling, secondary structure, hotel, institutional housing NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 OLD SAN JUAN HISTORIC DISTRICT/DISTRITO HISTÓRICO DEL VIEJO SAN JUAN Page 4 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Category: Commerce/Trade Sub: business, professional, organizational, financial institution, specialty store, department store, restaurant, warehouse, storage pit Category: Social Sub: meeting hall, clubhouse, civic Category; Government Sub: city hall, government office, diplomatic building, custom house, post office, public works, courthouse Category: Education Sub: school, college, library, research facility Category: Religion Sub: religious facility, church school, church-related residence Category: Funerary Sub: cemetery Category: Recreation and Culture Sub: theater, auditorium, museum, music facility, sports facility, outdoor recreation, monument/marker, work of art Category: Agriculture/Subsistence Sub: processing, storage, fishing facility Category: Industry/Processing/Extraction Sub: manufacturing facility, energy facility, communications facility Category: Health care Sub: clinic, medical business, resort Category: Defense Sub: battle site, coast guard facility Category: Landscape Sub: parking lot, park, plaza, garden, natural feature, street furniture/object, conservation area Category: Transportation Sub: water-related, road-related, pedestrian-related NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 OLD SAN JUAN HISTORIC DISTRICT/DISTRITO HISTÓRICO DEL VIEJO SAN JUAN Page 5 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 7. DESCRIPTION ARCHITECTURAL CLASSIFICATION: Other: Gothic, Renaissance; Baroque Colonial: Spanish “Colonial” Late Victorian: Second Empire Late Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Revivals: Romanesque (Rundbogenstil); Renaissance (Neo-Cinquecento) Late Nineteenth Century American Movements: Prairie School, Chicago Modern Movement: Art Nouveau MATERIALS: Foundation: Earth, Stone, Brick, Concrete, Metal Walls: Earth, Stone, Brick, Reinforced Concrete, Metal, Glass, Tiles (Sheathing) Roof: Wood, Brick, Concrete, Metal, Terracotta Other: Reinforced Concrete, Steel NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 OLD SAN JUAN HISTORIC DISTRICT/DISTRITO HISTÓRICO DEL VIEJO SAN JUAN Page 6 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Describe Present and Historic Physical Appearance. SUMMARY Founded in 1519 with Ponce de León as its highest authority, the Distrito Histórico del Viejo San Juan /Old San Juan Historic District in Puerto Rico1 is the oldest continuously inhabited post-contact city in the United States, and the second oldest in the Western Hemisphere.2 The district is a nationally significant urban core of exceptional significance. The oldest post-contact house, Christian temple, executive mansion, convent, and military defenses in the United States are found in this extraordinary district. Its Gothic, Decorated Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque buildings constitute the sole stylistic examples of their kind in Puerto Rico and the United States. The orthogonal matrix of 74 blocks platted before the Leyes de Indias (Laws of Indies) were enacted, and its impressive inventory of remarkable buildings, sites, and structures are enclosed by a seventeenth- and eighteenth-centuries defensive stone-belt formed by bastions, defensive curtain walls, and two imposing castles. The core was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and some of its components – the Castillo de San Felipe del Morro (San Felipe del Morro Castle), Castillo de San Cristóbal (San Cristóbal Castle), its circuit of defensive walls, and Palacio de Santa Catalina (Santa Catalina Palace) – were inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1983. The Old San Juan Historic District has served as the capital of the island of Puerto Rico since its founding in the sixteenth century. It was known during the first centuries of its existence as the ciudad del puerto Rico (the city of the rich Port),3 confirming the relevance the bay has always had for the urban core. When royal authorization was granted to move from the then fledging settlement of Caparra, the whole San Juan Islet was declared ejido4 of the new urban core. At this time, the small isle was uninhabited.5 Despite the extension of its ejido (the whole islet), for centuries all urban activities, and at a later date the most important military fortifications including the third and fourth lines of defense, were located within the boundaries of the proposed National Historic Landmark district. By the nineteenth century, the urban core had two extramuros (outside the walls) service areas that contribute to its cultural significance. The first one, the Cementerio de