My family and I took a seven day cruise out of Miami aboard the Carnival Celebration to Dominican…read moreRepublic, Puerto Rico and Saint Thomas. We took a shore excursion in Puerto Rico to see famous sites throughout San Juan. Our first stop was the Antigua Prison de la Princesa. This prison was built in 1837, taking the name of the walkway, the Paseo de la Princesa, that runs along it. In 1854 during the reign of Isabel II, the tower and watch were built and placed. While it was in operation it had capacity for 240 inmates, continued as a prison until the 1965. The building was rehabilitated in 1989, and currently houses today the office of the tourism company of Puerto Rico and contains a contemporary art exhibition.
We toured the old prison area. It was definitely not a very nice place to spend. We were told about the history of this prison while we were inside it. Its cool that it now houses the tourism company of Puerto Rico and I really wished we had the time to actually see the art exhibition.
Still, this was a great first stop on our tour of beautiful San Juan.