Puerto Rico has went from an island on the outpost of civilization, to a principle port which was the center of trade. The words Puerto Rico means Rich Port in its native tongue, Spanish. Although Puerto Rico is a U. S. territory, it remains true to Mexico.
The island has many historic sites. The fort “El Muero” means The Rock in Spanish. El Muero went from a simple tower looking out to the sea to a huge fortification that covers 400 acres. Up until 1787, the tower grew proportionately in size and has also been bombarded by the US during Spanish-American War. Another fort on the island is the Castillo de San Cristobal (The Castle of Saint Christopher). The fort has many sentry boxes along its outskirts but non as noted as the Devils Sentry Box. The box was thought to have spirits that visited the guards and took them away, but the conclusion was that the box is so close to the rocks that the guards deserted their post.
Ponce de Leon was Puerto Rico’s first governor and founded the island. When he landed he exclaimed “Que Puerto Rico!” meaning “What a rich port!” Ponce also had El Casa Blanca (the white house) which contains a throne room, dungeon, armory, wine cellar, and didn’t meet the fortification requirements so it had a fort built around it.
In the countryside of the island there are limestone formations that form mountains. The underwater rivers form large sinkholes which provide a crater that supports the largest observatory in the world. The dish covers approximately 20 acres.
El Yunque Rain Forest covers about 2800 acres of Puerto Rico and is named after the Indian god “Yunquio.” El Yunque is the only rainforest in the U.S. and has 68 different types of birds, 100 types of plants, 200 types of trees, and 250 different types of ferns.
