Catedral de San Juan Bautista

Built in 1521 on Calle del Cristo in Old San Juan, destroyed by a hurricane, rebuilt in 1529 in stone — the Catedral de San Juan Bautista has been absorbing the island's history ever since. It holds the tomb of Juan Ponce de León, a shrine to Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago, the first Caribbean-born layperson ever beatified, and the vestments Pope John Paul II wore during his 1984 visit to Puerto Rico. Pope Paul VI named it a minor basilica in 1978. The sources call it the oldest purpose-built cathedral in the Americas. That distinction was earned the hard way.