Fortín San Juan de la Cruz, aka El Cañuelo, part of San Juan National Historic Site

Fortín San Juan de la Cruz, also known as El Cañuelo, is a small fort on the opposite side of the entrance to San Juan Bay from Castillo San Felipe del Morro, aka El Morro. It was originally on its own little island, but when the U. S. Corps of Engineers dredged the entrance to the bay in 1943 so that larger ships could enter, the dirt was used to fill in the gap between it and Isle de Cabras, another island that is connected to the Puerto Rican mainland via a bridge. Today visitors can drive to the fort, which is a half hour without traffic from El Morro. The fort itself is not open, but visitors are welcome to walk the grounds. A small parking lot is across the street. I did not visit, but supposedly there are great views of the bay from here.

El Cañuelo was first built of wood around 1610. The idea was that enemy ships attempting to avoid the guns of El Morro would sail within range of its guns and would thus take fire from both sides of the bay. The fort was burned down during the Dutch attack in 1625, an attack in which they did not capture El Morro but did burn the entire town of San Juan before leaving. El Cañuelo was then rebuilt as a masonry fort by the Spanish.

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