The World Heritage List contains a fairly large number of historic city centers from the Spanish colonial era in Latin America, and recently, during the World2 Tour, I visited two of those in two days. This was made possible because those two cities are connected by the overnight Ferry operated by Ferries del Caribe, with both docks being mere meters from each historic zone.

The first of those on the route was Santo Domingo. Its core zone was reasonably pleasant and easy to navigate, with a number of interesting examples of colonial architecture. However, in contrast to some of the other Spanish Colonial WHSs, like Quito or Cartageña, there are also a relatively high number of modern buildings scattered throughout the zone, which detract somewhat from the historic character of the site as one wanders through the area. On the other hand, Santo Domingo possesses a number of firsts and oldests, which provide the primary reason for its inscription on the List. These include the oldest fortress in North America, oldest City Walls, and its first Cathedral. The latter claim may be a bit tenuous, depending on one’s definition of a Cathedral, since the Church ruins I recently saw at Erik the Red’s settlement in Greenland could make a case for that status. In any case, the Cathedral of Santa María la Menor is an impressive building, with at least some parts of it being over five hundred years old. The Colonial city center WHSs are always nice places to visit, and this one was as well, though it did not require a particularly long tome to do so.

The ferry to Puerto Rico docked at San Juan at eight in the morning and, after an annoyingly long immigration and customs process, I had most of the morning and early afternoon to visit its WHS, which is located on the opposite side of the small bay that is part of the city’s harbor. The site includes the old city, located within the original city walls, and the two impressive fortresses which once guarded the city and it port. The old town today is quite attractive, with many of the original buildings possessing a fairly good state of conservation or restoration. However, as is often the case, most of these buildings now perform modern functions, housing offices, restaurants, or similar operations. The two fortresses are where this site shines, especially the larger of the two, the impressive Castillo San Felipe del Morro. El Morro may be one of the most interesting and beautiful Spanish forts in the Caribbean basin, thanks to its perfect location on a promontory between the old city and the sea. Today, it is not hard to imagine how difficult it would have been to attack the city from the sea with such forts providing protection. In addition to that fort, and riding over some of the cobblestone streets of the Old City, I also had enough time to see La Puerta de San Juan, the gate through the city wall, and the second fort, the Castillo San Cristóbal. This was a nice site to visit, and a pleasant way to be introduced to the island.