Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Our Spanish heritage in St. Augustine FL


Above: Castillo de San Marcos as seen from Matanzas Bay in St. Augustine FL.

There's lots to see and do in St. Augustine FL, but the old fort, Castillo de San Marcos, is a must. Construction began in 1672 by the Spanish, about 100 years after St. Augustine was founded. Previously, a series of wooden forts didn't get the job done, so this masonry fort was built. It was used to help guard the city and the treasure ships that traveled up the Florida coast taking gold, silver and trade goods back to Spain.

Did you know? Castillo de San Marcos was built out of coquina, a Spanish word meaning small sea shells. The shells would bond together making a stone similar to limestone.

You can read what Wikipedia says about this historic place if you click here.







Photos by MOJO and taken with my Canon 40D.

2 comments:

  1. Reading a book on frontier Illinois. Equally fascinating.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey, you are retired. Aren't you supposed to sit home in the rocker and bitch at the neighbor kids?

    Oops, sorry, that is me.

    ReplyDelete