The "Castillo San Felipe del Morro: Part II" Story

The current lighthouse standing tall above
the upper level of El Morro.

It was an ordinary day.  Gathering together the final photographs to show the different lighthouses that occupied a prominent spot on the Castillo San Felipe del Morro or El Morro as most call the beautiful fort in the city of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.  The fort had it's beginnings in 1539 and took 248 years to complete, but for many more years after that there was no lighthouse atop El Morro.  Spanish engineers first added a lighthouse to the 6th level of the fortress in 1846 to guide ships safely into and out of San Juan harbor.  The first lighthouse was built on what was known as Austria Bastion which was close to the point where the fort touched the bay while the second lighthouse was built in 1876 on Ochoa Bastion which was on the opposite side of the fort along the water and closer to the city.  This second lighthouse  took a direct hit during a 1898 bombardment by Sampson's U.S. Fleet, and was destroyed, but the brick foundation was salvaged and used for a new lighthouse in 1899. Improvements were made to that lighthouse in 1908 and is the one that stands today.  It stands 51 feet above the sixth and top level of El Morro and it's lamp is 182 feet above sea level and still serves shipping every night.  What a majestic sight it must have been to enter the harbor and see that lighthouse standing atop El Morro.  

The first lighthouse constructed in El Morro in 1846

Second lighthouse in 1876.

Then the lighthouse of 1899 was constructed.

The current lighthouse built in 1908.

The lighthouse as it looks today standing tall above El Morro.