On the north side of Old San Juan lies the Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery, also called the Old San Juan cemetery. Built in 1863, this place houses many permanent residents who were famous and prominent Puerto Ricans in their day.

In March 2020 I took a morning stroll through this space while in town for a long weekend. To enter the grounds, you must walk through a short tunnel and under the front gate.

There are two main sections to the cemetery and one main avenue that takes you throughout the property. There is a domed cupola in the western section. As I walked I was greeted by a cat and her friends, a hen and her chicks.

The bleached-white stone reflected the sunshine stark against the dark blue ocean over the cliffs.

With the salty wind in my face, it wasn’t hard to understand why many of the stones and decorative statues are weathered and eroded.