Cathedral of San Juan Bautista sits in the center of Old San Juan. It was originally built in 1521. It was rebuilt in 1540 and 1615 after a hurricane and again in 1625 after a Dutch pirate attack. In 1917, the church was extended and fully restored. On our trip to the cathedral, we were not able to enter due to a wedding that was in progress. We went back the next day and were able to walk right in. Luckily it was very early and there were not too many people around so we pretty much had the church to ourselves.
The cathedral is very large and shows its age, but that is part of the beauty. We noticed some scaffolding where it looked like upkeep was being done to ensure that this church remains a place to visit for years to come. Take some time to walk through the rooms, see the beautiful altar and pay a visit to the tomb of Ponce de Leon. Behind the altar, we wandered into some smaller rooms that looked like old storage areas. They had some very beautiful sculpture on the walls. The cathedral is open every day to visitors, but you should check with the church office for hours as they may have changed since I was there.
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