Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Saint John the Baptist - San Juan, Puerto Rico - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Saint John the Baptist is the first church designated as a cathedral in the Americas. It dates back to 1511 when it became the first diocese in the New World under bishop Don Alonso Manso. The cathedral is uphill from San Juan Gate. Spanish travelers would enter through the gate and walk uphill to the church to thank God for a safe voyage. The present structure was built in the Gothic style in 1540. It has been restored and expanded several times the latest being in 1917.

A plaque inside the door of the church contains a timeline. It is inscribed:

The cathedral is famous as the tomb of Juan Ponce de León. His body, originally rested in the Iglesia de San José. It was to the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Saint John the Baptist in 1912 to commemorate the 400-year anniversary of evangelization in the island. It also contains the skull of St. Pius, a Roman martyr. The cathedral also houses the relic of San Pío, a saint martyred in Rome. The Vatican felt the Cathedral of San Juan needed a relic so it sent the skull of San Pius. It is embedded in the head of a a wax sculpture of his body contained in a glass case. It also contains the tomb of Cardinal Luis Aponte Martinez, the first cardinal from Puerto Rico.

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