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Over on the northeastern edge of Old San Juan, stretching along Avenida Munoz Rivera (Route 25) and Calle Norzagaray, Fuerte San Cristobal (daily 9am-5pm; tours in English at 10am & 2pm; US$2; tel 787/729-6960) was San Juan's second stronghold. Where El Morro was the prime defence against attacks by sea, San Cristobal, built from 1634 to 1785 and originally covering 27 acres, prevented land-based assaults. Today, the maze-like fortress is maintained by the National Park Service, and visitors can explore its secret tunnels, moats, dungeons and 150-foot walls. The entrance is on Calle Norzagaray. La Perla , the slum outside the northern city wall as you walk west on Calle Norzagaray away from the fort, is a deceptively quaint-looking neighbourhood that is best avoided. Trenchantly impoverished, it gained notoriety with Oscar Lewis's 1966 grim novel, La Vida , and has been an enclave of crime for centuries. Many of San Juan's early colonizers are buried nearby, in the Cementerio de San Juan , which can also be dangerous. Like La Perla, it's best viewed from a safe distance - from La Muralla, or La Plaza del Quinto Centenario on Norzagaray and Beneficencia streets.
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