Saint Augustine is a city in Florida, in the southeastern United States, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Saint Johns.
In 1513, on the site where the city now stands, Columbus’s satellite, Juan Ponce de Leon, landed in search of the legendary source of youth. He named this land Florida and declared it the possession of the Spanish crown. In 1564, the mouth of the St. John’s River attracted the attention of the French, who founded Fort Carolaine here. The next year, the Spanish Admiral Pedro Menendez de Aviles was sent to these regions to oust competitors. Arriving at your destination on St. Augustine, Menendez ravaged the French colony and laid the fort of St. Augustine.
St. Augustine borders the city of St. Augustine Beach in the southeast and lies on the Matanzas River, which is part of the Intracoastal Waterway, in the immediate vicinity of the Atlantic coast. The city is located approximately 30 km southeast of Jacksonville.
Currently, the city lives off tourism. The monuments of colonial architecture have been partly restored, partly rebuilt in antiquity.
Access : Coordinates: 29.894722, -81.314444 / Located 61 km south of the Jacksonville metropolis. The “Inter-Atlantic Waterway” begins from St. Augustine. / The nearest airports are Northeast Florida Regional Airport and Jacksonville International Airport,50 miles north.
/ The U.S. Highway 1 (SR 5) and Florida State Roads A1A, 207, and 312. Interstate 95 passes the city nearby.
Highlights :
- Castillo de San Marcos : Castillo de San Marcos Fortress is the oldest stone fort in the United States. It took the Spanish 23 years to complete the construction.
- Fort Matanzas National Monument, a Spanish fort from 1740 / Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum.
- Constitution Square – Plaza de la Constitución : is a public square in St. Augustine, Florida, United States. Founded by the Spanish in 1573 during colonial times in Spanish Florida, it is the oldest plaza in the United States.
- Archaeological Park “Source of eternal youth of Ponce de Leon” : A 15 acre waterfront attraction. This is the site of the first colony of 1565 in St. Augustine. Here you can see how cannons are fired, as well as see the old village of Timucuan, which is about 3000 years old, climb the Spanish watchtower, visit the reconstructed Mission of 1587 and, of course, get drunk from the source of Eternal Hope Ponce de Leone. It is also believed to be the landing site of Ponce de Leone, the discoverer of Florida in 1513, although other sources say it was off Cape Canaveral.
- Fort Mose Historic State Park, the first free African American settlement in what is now the United States.
- Anastasia State Park, a nature reserve / St. Augustine’s Cathedral, built 1793–1797 ,It is located on “Catedral” street, between “Charlotte” and “San Jorge” streets in Constitution Square. / Grace United Methodist Church, built 1886–1887 by Henry Flagler
- The oldest wooden school building in the USA : It was built over 200 years ago from red cedar and cypress using wooden pegs and hand-forged nails / Old St. Johns County Jail, a historic prison / Colonial Spanish Quarter Living History Museum.
- Villa Zorayda, a replica of the Alhambra that millionaire Franklin Smith had built on his property in 1883 / Trinity Episcopal Church / St. George Street.
- St. Augustine city gate : The impressive shell rock columns that once supported the wooden gate were erected in 1808 , the wall had practically disappeared, but the monumental columns survived.
- Bridge of Lions, a bascule bridge from the 1920s / Flagler College, parts of which are located in the former Ponce de León Hotel,The Flagler Hotel was a marvel of its 1890s era, filled with fashionable guests dancing in its grand ballroom and swimming in the world’s largest indoor pool.
- Lightner Museum, in the former Hotel Alcazar / Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, a hearing and visually impaired school founded in 1885.
- St. Augustine Lighthouse, a lighthouse from 1874 with an attached museum / World Golf Hall of Fame & IMAX Theater at World Golf Village.
- Governor’s House, St. Augustine, Florida : The building got its final look in 1935 now it houses the Association for the Preservation of Historical Heritage.
- Schooner Liberty and El Galleon: This is authentic replica of a 1900th Anniversary Two-Masted Runner,see El Galeon at 495 tons while it is docked at the municipal marina.
- St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum : The Pirate Museum encourages guests to release their inner pirate by transporting them for more than three centuries to the center of pirate activity in the Caribbean in Port Royal, Jamaica. Among the exhibits are the world’s oldest pirate treasure chest and the oldest known “wanted”.
- Oldest home in St. Augustine, Florida : The Gonzalez Alvarez House, the oldest Spanish colonial house in Florida, was built in 1702.
- The Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche was built in 1737 from shell rock. The chapel served as a parish church for the Pueblo Christian Indians Nombre de Dios.
- Potter’s Wax Museum : The oldest Wax Museum in the United States. Here you can look at wax copies of celebrities: historical figures, politicians, stars and popular characters in films and books.
Activities : Ghost / tourssightseeing / photo opportunities / Boat tours ,St. Augustine Scenic Cruise / Visit golf’s greats in the hallowed halls at the World Golf Village.
Go next : Marineland ,a small beachfront town in Northeast Florida./ Ponte Vedra Beach is a seaside community in Northeast Florida. / Palatka is located on the banks of St. Johns River / Savannah , a city in the US state of Georgia. It is the oldest city in Georgia and has a beautiful old town.
