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The Fortification of St Augustine
The first permanent settlement of St Augustine
wasn't built until Sept 8, 1565 by Pedro
Menendez de Aviles. He named the city after
the patron saint of his home town. The Spanish
built nine wood forts. Each fort was burned to
the ground during attacks. A famous attach lead
by Sir Francis Drake in 1586 drove Spanish
settlers into the wilderness while he burned yet
another wood fort to the ground.
Map depicting Sir Francis Drake's 1586 attack on St
Augustine.
Without the resource required to hold the city
the Spanish recaptured St. Augustine. After yet
another attack by privateers, aka pirates the
Spanish finally built a stone Fort, the Castillo de
San Marcos. The Fort was constructed out of
coquina, which is made out of small shells and
sand. This fabulous material can deflect cannon
balls and if it does not deflect it will absorb the
cannon fire. The Castillo de San Marcos never
fell in Battle and is still intact today. The Fort
flew under 4 Flags. The Spanish, The English,
The Spanish again then finally it flew under the
US Flag.
Castillo de san Marco
Cannon on the deck of Castillo de san Marco