The old part of San Juan is located on an island that protects the harbor. On this island is Old San Juan and the famous fort that you see all the photos of. But the fascinating place for us is just next to the old fort, the cemetery. This place is crowded city of angels by the sea. It is filled with beautiful statues to honor the dead.
This is a small cemetery and the graves are chock-a-block. What makes this really interesting is that the memorials are almost all uniformly white and in terrific condition. There are many intricate statues to see on a day filled with sun and fluffy clouds.
If these angels could talk, we could fill volumes with the tales.
These carefully detailed figures are very expressive of the grief of the survivors.
The cemetery borders the atlantic. There is a wall that separates it from the rocky shore.
So many angels with folded wings looking heavenward.
Others are expressing their sorrow by kneeling in prayer.
Portions of the wall along the sea contains the well-known towers for keeping vigilance against the living.
As you can see by the damaged lights on the wall, this place is not well maintained, but somehow, the statues are in great shape. I suspect that this reflects the religious character of the island.
There were also several graves that had multiple statues. This one has a conventional marker with mourning angels at the head of the grave, but there is also an additional figure in front that seems to be coming to pay respects.
In the short time we were visiting, the weather was changing. The clouds were coming, slowly and surely for an afternoon rain. These statues are here, rain or shine, to mark the memories of the departed. We are glad to be able to visit with them for a short while.
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