In July of 2016, we got the opportunity to take a cruise out of Miami and traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico. One of the locations where we stopped and toured was at the Castillo San Cristobal, where we heard the ghostly love story about Maria and Betancourt.

We treated ourselves in 2016. It was our tenth anniversary, and we wanted to do something special. This whole trip took us from Ohio to Miami to San Juan to the Keys and back, and all along the way we stopped at some wonderful places and thoroughly enjoyed the travels. The fort is very prominent on San Juan Island, and we chose to tour San Juan as our excursion from the ship.

We put together a video about the location; this video will cover the history of the location, show you some pictures from our visit, and Boris will provide you the paranormal story associated with the fort.

The tragic love story of Castillo San Cristobal begins with Maria, the daughter of San Juan’s feared executioner. She lived in the fortress under the shadow of her father’s grim profession, marked by whispers and isolation. Although she loved her father, Maria longed for something beyond the confines of duty and death. Her heart yearned for tenderness, and it found it in the most unexpected place—within the arms of a soldier named Betancourt.

Betancourt was young, spirited, and full of dreams far larger than his military post. He saw in Maria not the daughter of the executioner, but a kind soul who had endured too much silence and sorrow. Their love blossomed in secret, nourished by stolen moments in the fortress corridors and whispered words near the sea. Maria, whose life had been defined by fear and shadows, found warmth and joy with him.

But fate soon turned against them. Accused of theft from the fortress stores, Betancourt was tried and found guilty. Some whispered he had stolen food out of desperation; others believed it was to secure a future with Maria. No matter the truth, the punishment was death. To Maria’s horror, the task of execution fell upon her father, bound by his oath to carry out the law of the garrison.

On the day of the execution, Maria concealed herself in the crowd while Betancourt faced his fate. Her heart broke as she watched her father, with solemn resolve, take the life of the man she loved. The cries of the crowd were distant to her; she heard only the silence that followed when Betancourt’s body went still. At that moment, she knew her world had ended. Her father’s duty had destroyed her happiness, and she could not forgive fate for such cruelty.

That night, when the fortress had gone quiet and the soldiers had retreated to their quarters, Maria returned to the execution ground. There, beside the lifeless body of Betancourt, she prepared her end. Using a length of rope, she climbed the gallows where her beloved still hung. In the darkness, she looped the noose around her neck and, with a final whispered prayer to join him in death, stepped into eternity.

By morning, the sun rose over San Cristobal and revealed a sight that froze the executioner in his tracks. When he came to remove Betancourt’s body, he found his daughter hanging beside the soldier, her face pale but peaceful in death. The horror of the scene struck him with unbearable weight: in fulfilling his duty, he had unknowingly condemned his child.

The grief of the executioner became another layer of the legend. Some say he dropped his blade that morning and never raised it again, unable to reconcile his duty with the destruction of his daughter’s life. Others believe he buried Maria and Betancourt side by side, a quiet act of mercy that defied the fortress’ laws. Whatever the truth, the tragedy bound their names forever to the history of San Cristóbal.

From that day on, soldiers began to whisper of strange happenings near the execution ground. At night, they claimed to see the silhouettes of two figures hanging in the moonlight, swaying gently though no wind blew. Others heard sobs drifting from the gallows or a woman’s voice murmuring prayers of devotion. Some even claimed to see Maria’s ghost standing beside Betancourt, hand in hand, watching the sea.

Visitors say that the garitas and corridors hold a heaviness that cannot be explained. Some have described a choking sensation in the throat, as though an unseen rope were tightening. Others feel sudden despair followed by an inexplicable calm, as if Maria’s spirit wishes only to remind them of love’s endurance, even in death. The execution ground itself is said to be the most haunted part of the fortress, where shadows linger longer than they should.

Local guides pass down the story not as a simple ghost tale, but as a tragedy of love and duty. Maria and Betancourt’s fate embodies the cruel collision between justice and the human heart. Where the executioner upheld the law, his daughter followed her soul, choosing love even in death. The people of San Juan came to see her not just as a victim, but as a martyr of passion.

Even today, strange reports persist. Night guards claim they hear the creak of ropes in the dark or catch sight of a woman’s pale figure leaning into the air beside the gallows. Some couples who visit the fortress after hours feel an overwhelming need to hold one another tightly, as if Maria’s sorrow lingers to remind them never to let go.

And so, the legend of Maria and Betancourt endures in the stones of Castillo San Cristobal. Their love, extinguished by cruelty yet immortalized in death, has become part of the fortress’ soul. Those who walk its halls at night may hear their whispers or glimpse their shadows side by side, bound not by the rope of despair but by the unbroken cord of love that even death could not sever.