Entrance/Lower Level Map

12. This ramp leads down to the lower levels of El Morro. Near the top of the ramp on your left is the entrance to the Chinese Dungeon, once used as jail. Note that the steps are interrupted by platforms where soldiers could rest while hauling heavy cannon by hand with winches and pulleys.

13. This is the most powerful cannon battery of the fortress, called "Bateria de Santa Barbara", in honor of the patron saint of artillerymen.

14. Firing steps allowed musketeers to shoot over the fort walls. Thick walls protected the troops from enemy fire while they reloaded.

15. Sentries peering through gunners' loopholes could watch the base of El Morro's walls to prevent enemy sappers from undermining the fort.

16. Sentry boxes served as sheltered lookout posts to keep watch along the fort walls.

17. The observation deck you see here today was a World War I gun emplacement equipped with a 4.7 inch Armstrong cannon. From 1942 until the end of World War II, a 90mm anti-aircraft gun sat here. Look below the flags at the observation posts built during the 1940s. They spotted targets at sea for coastal artillery.

18. One of the first-built defenses of San Juan was this "water battery". Cannon placed here, so close to sea level, could damage the hulls of enemy ships trying to enter the harbor. Gunners in this battery engaged the ships of Sir Francis Drake in the 1595 attack. On the other side of the water battery, you see a 48-million-dollar breakwater built by the US Army Corps of Engineers from El Morro to San Juan Gate to preserve this historic site from wave erosion.

19. If you go down this ramp, you will be inside the oldest structure of El Morro. This round turret-style tower was built at the base of the natural promontory in 1539. Only large enough to accommodate four small cannons, the original tower was swallowed up inside thicker walls when El Morro expanded. The 13-inch shell fragment you see high on the ceiling dates from the 1898 bombardment of San Juan by the US Navy. The stairs connect the tower to the water battery.

20. Enlisted men had their living quarters in these vaulted rooms. In battle, cannons would be emplaced to fire out to sea from these casemates. Under the artillery ramp you see vaults for storage, a blacksmith's forge for cannon repairs, a kitchen, and latrines.

21. This circular staircase was used to supply powder and shots from the lower level to guns above on the Santa Barbara battery.

22. Cannon emplacements where Ordenez (breech loading) cannon were mounted can be seen here. They had a range of approximately five miles and were used around the 1870s.

23. The triangular staircase leads back to the main plaza, and the end of the tour. Please be very careful while ascending this staircase. The steps are quite steep, and are not recommended for use by the elderly or the very young.

Castle San Felipe del Morro (El Morro) San Juan, Puerto Rico

Four Attacks: 1595-1797
El Morro Walking Tour: Main Plaza
El Morro Walking Tour: Bastion de Austria
El Morro Walking Tour: Bastion de Ochoa
El Morro Walking Tour: Battery del Carmen
El Morro Walking Tour: Artillery Ramp
El Morro Walking Tour: Battery de Santa Barbara
El Morro Walking Tour: Garita (Sentry Boxes)
El Morro Walking Tour: Lower Level
El Morro Walking Tour: Promenade (Outside Fort)
El Morro Walking Tour: Map of Upper Levels
El Morro Walking Tour: Map of Lower Levels