Santurce (Spanish pronunciation: [sanˈtuɾse], meaning Saint George from Basque Santurtzi) is the largest and most populated barrio of the municipality of San Juan, the capital city of Puerto Rico.

[4] From its original settlement, its history has been marked by diverse waves of immigration, particularly of Afro-Puerto Rican, Chinese, Jewish and Dominican communities who have left a cultural imprint in the area.

Fortín San Antonio was also built during this time in order to defend the city from both northeast foreign invaders and land-based indigenous attacks.

The area that would become Santurce was first settled between the end the 16th-century and throughout the 17th-century by both freed and escaped slaves coming from both rural Puerto Rico and other islands throughout the West Indies.

[18] Santurce was captured by the British under the command of Ralph Abercromby on April 18, 1797, during the early stages of the 1797 siege of San Juan, but it was later liberated on May 1.

[19][20] Santurce saw further urban growth during the early decades of the 19th century thanks to the establishment of the Camino Real, a military road between San Juan and the town of Río Piedras (then called El Roble) built in 1810; this stretch of road now known as Ponce de León Avenue would prove to be of extreme importance in the urban history of the city of San Juan.

[24] In 1876, an engineer from the port town of Santurtzi in Spain's autonomous Basque Country region known as Pablo Ubarri arrived on the island to help in the construction of a railroad system and a steam tramway between San Juan and the town of Río Piedras through the center of San Mateo de Cangrejos.

[26] Other key developments during this time were the construction of a civil hospital in 1885 (today the location of the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico), the establishment of street lighting and the electric grid in 1893, the installation of phone infrastructure in 1897, and the inauguration of both railway service and the Carretera Central linking San Juan to Ponce in 1898.

[29] This period of population growth brought prosperity to many of the neighborhoods of Santurce with high urbanization in Miramar, Ocean Park, Sagrado Corazón and the formal establishment of a local marketplace, for example, also in 1910.

[35] The population of the district became the most diversified at the time with large numbers of immigrant communities establishing businesses and institutions in the area.

By the end of the 20th century, Santurce had a population of only 95,000 inhabitants and, with the exceptions of districts such as Condado, Miramar and Ocean Park, was experiencing extreme urban decay.

[38][39]Despite notable developments such as the Puerto Rico Convention District and the Tren Urbano, early 21st century Santurce saw a continuation of a period of economic decline now coupled with the financial crisis of the local banking and mortgage system.

[40][41] The district however began a period of cosmopolitan revival and economic growth in 2009,[42] as many new local establishments such as bars, clubs and restaurants opened their doors due to the resurging importance of trade and tourism prompted by a decrease in rent which attracted both artists and entrepreneurs to the area.

[14] Geographically speaking, Santurce is a peninsula connected to the Puerto Rico mainland in the east, where it borders with the Isla Verde district of Carolina.

It includes the neighborhoods of Miramar, Loíza, Isla Grande, Barrio Obrero, and Condado,[56] which are cultural hot spots for art, music, cuisine, fashion, hotels, technology, multimedia, film, textile and startups.

[56] Santurce is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean with over 1,500 people attending two local synagogues.

The Sagrado Corazón station is the terminus of the sole metro system line of San Juan, located in the southeast section of the district in the neighborhood of Martín Peña.

It is an Olympic aquatic sports facility used to host local and international events such as the 2nd A.S.U.A Pan American Masters Swimming Championship.

as the ‘New York Yankees of Puerto Rico’, largely in part to the accomplishments of its legendary players, such as Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays[citation needed].