Noche / Dia de San Juan

By: Tommy Hernandez

Today marks the beginning of an important feast for the island of Puerto Rico known as Noche de San Juan ("Night of Saint John [the Baptist]"). By 11 pm tonight, the island's beaches are surrounded by people waiting for the stroke of midnight to take three backwards plunges into the ocean (a symbolic act of baptism) to cleanse their spirit and acquire good luck for the rest of the year.

Tomorrow, June 24th, the island is in high spirits with music, food, and festivals for Dia de San Juan (Feast Day of Saint John), a Christian celebration of the birth of Saint John. Although this Christian feast is celebrated in many parts around the world, it is especially adorned on the island as Saint John is the patron saint for Puerto Rico. Here on the mainland United States, the festival is held during this same timeframe and known simply as 'Puerto Rican Festivals,' where patriotic parades and energetic music and dancing abound.

Architecturally, there is no structure more iconic or synonymous to the island of Puerto Rico than el Castillo San Felipe del Morro (nicknamed El Morro). Completed in 1790, the six-level fortress served as a fort under Spanish rule and was built as an intimidation tactic for attacking naval vessels. Standing over 140 feet tall, with walls ranging from 18 to 25 feet thick, the fortress was labeled impenetrable and unconquerable. To the South-East of the structure lies a beautiful cemetery overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, wrapped around the snaking walls of El Morro. Now a national monument and World Heritage Site, El Morro -- which has stood for over 230 years, enduring war and severe natural disasters -- greets more than two million visitors annually as an icon of the strength and resilience of the island of Puerto Rico. 

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Photo credit: Boricua Online & Wikimedia Commons