UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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Location | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Criteria | Cultural: (vi) |
Reference | 266 |
Inscription | 1983 (7th Session) |
Area | 33.39 ha (82.5 acres) |
Coordinates | 18°28′16″N 66°07′27″W / 18.4711°N 66.1242°W |
La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States in the Caribbean.[1] The world heritage site consists of several historic defensive structures built by the Spanish Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries to defend the strategically located colonial city of San Juan and its bay from foreign attacks. These fortifications are among the oldest European-built defensive systems and largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.[2] In addition to its historic importance the site is notable for its architectural significance as one of the most prominent military adaptations of Renaissance and Baroque architecture in the Americas.[3]
La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site during the 7th annual session of the World Heritage Committee that took place in the city of Florence, Italy on December of 1983.[4] It was Puerto Rico's first inscription and one of the two world heritage sites under United States jurisdiction proclaimed during that session along with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.[5] It was also the first and, as of 2023, one of two world heritage sites located in an unincorporated territory of the United States along with Papahānaumokuākea,[6] shared between Hawaii and Midway Atoll (the latter part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands).[7] La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site was inscribed under the Cultural criterion (vi) for its historical and architectural significance.[3]
Before becoming a world heritage site, La Fortaleza had been granted the federal designation of National Historic Landmark in 1960.[8] Historic sites in the United States that are neither part of nor owned by the National Park Service (NPS) are often required to be given this special designation by the federal government before they can be officially nominated into the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.[9]
The site comprises a series of Spanish-built colonial fortifications across two contributing properties:[3]