Castillo de San Marcos - Part I

Castillo de San Marcos was the first repeat fortification we visited on this trip as we had visited when we came through St. Augustine during our 2014 trip to Florida.

"The Castillo de San Marcos is unique in North American architecture. As the only extant 17th century military construction in the country and the oldest masonry fortress in the United States it is a prime example of the "bastion system" of fortification, the culmination of hundreds of years of military defense engineering.

It is also unique for the material used in its construction. The Castillo is one of only two fortifications in the world built out of a semi-rare form of limestone called coquina (The other is Fort Matanzas National Monument 14 miles south)

The fortress itself is both a product of and evidence to the multitude of forces both political and technological that created the competition for empire during the colonial era. But above all the Castillo is an enduring legacy of the craftsmanship and skill of the engineers, artisans and labourers who built it."
~from Castillo de San Marcos website, Architecture & Construction

 After parking in the nearby city lot you can get a great view of the fort as you walk towards the ticketing building.

 I've really been enjoying taking panoramic and 360° pictures of the various sites we have visited.

 The Spanish flag is quite distinctive and makes for a great photo opportunity above the old stone walls.

You also can't go wrong with a view of the corner of the fort that includes palm trees in the background.

The entrance to the fort was doubly protected by the walls and an outlying revetment (the ravelin) that protected the area of the drawbridge.

This is an overhead view of the ravelin.

The normal walkway into the fort was being reconstructed so a construction walkway was located directly next to the area for visitors to use.

Here is a better view of the temporary walkway from atop the walls.

This recreated coat of arms in the ravelin appears to be the same as the one over the entrance to the fort itself--which isn't original either, but at least looks much older.  I first assumed that it was the Kingdom of Spain's coat of arms at the time of the fort's construction, but instead it appears to be the coat of arms of Castille-León, a country subsumed into a unified Spain under Isabella and Ferdinand, who completed the Reconquista in 1492.

 After crossing over the temporary bridge you pass through this main entrance into the interior of the fort.

The inside of the fort wasn't too busy, allowing me to grab this shot with a minimum of people in the frame of view.

The interior walls of the fort are pockmarked by many doors and windows.  The National Park Service has turned many of these into exhibit areas including a large number of explanatory signs as well as a few artifacts.

 Inside the fort's room are a number of exhibits about the history of the fort and the area.  I like the style of the display that used different flags to illustrate the different eras.

 Obviously the fort and the region began their history post-colonization as Spanish.  I found it quite appropriate that the signage was printed in both English and Spanish.

 The British took control of the Florida colonies at the end of the French and Indian War.

 As a reward for helping the Americans in the Revolution the Spanish came back into Florida and took control of their former colony.

Spanish control of the peninsula finally ended when the American government persuaded Spain to sell the region in 1821.

This case contains a set of wooden doors that Army engineers built in 1821 when they took over control of the fort from Spain.  The doors were used for almost 150 years and were only removed from use in the 1950s.

The walls of the fort are made out of coquina, a rare limestone found on nearby islands.  The word is Spanish and means "tiny shell" and is a quite apt description of the stone's composition.  Over 150 million pounds were quarried for the fortifications.  Interestingly enough while the porous stone appears to be weak it is actually stronger versus canon fire as it absorbs cannon balls instead of splintering.  This block was available for people to touch.

This is the original coat of arms removed in the mid twentieth century for preservation.

If you look carefully at this wall you can the outline of a doorway that was blocked up many years go due to changing needs for the fortification.

"Large amounts of food were a vital necessity to the Castillo.  Enough had to be kept on hand to survive a siege, which could last up to three months.  Dried supplies stored here, such as rice, cassava, beans, flour, oil, and salted beef were added to fresh local foods such as fish, game, vegetables, and fruit to feed the soldiers and townspeople."
~from exhibit signage

This shattered 18-pounder cannon was found in the fort's moat, but was determined that it had been on the walls during the 1702 siege.  Its explosion caused several casualties.

 Next to the parade ground I started looking at a display of an old cannon when Amy pointed out this little critter.  After I took several pictures I realized that he looked like he was trapped between the rope and the ring on the post.

 After I moved the rope the small lizard moved fairly quickly down the rope.  Eventually he scurried away.

 The girls thought that the lizard had somehow scrambled down a tiny hole in one of the flagstones.

After I heard that the cannon firing would start before too long I headed up the stairs with the girls to explore the upper level of the fortification--but more about that in the next post.

~Matt