Over the years, the historic seawall bordering the southern grounds of the Castillo de San Marcos has been weakened by hurricanes, high tides, and the simple crashing of waves. Concurrently, rainwater percolating down through the mowed grounds has undermined the wall as the water seeps out into the bay. These forces have helped destabilize the historic seawall and make its long-term future uncertain. In 2011 the National Park Service facilitated the construction of a livin
The first room in this northeast corner was the artillery quarters during the Second Spanish Period (1784 to 1821). The next casemate was the ordinance supply room where tools and materials for serving the cannons were kept and issued. The small narrow room once housed a ladder to the gun deck to make transporting gunpowder quicker. The tiny doorway you see here is the entrance to the original gunpowder magazine. The Spanish realized soon after construction that the little room was too humid to store powder, so they used it for storage and as a trash pit during the 51 days of the 1702 Siege. Eventually, a new magazine was built in the northwest corner. When the Spanish renovated the Castillo in the mid-1700s, the old magazine and the ladder room were sealed, not to be opened again until 1833, when the U.S. Army was performing their own modifications. <br />
The Junior Ranger Program encourages children ages 6 through 12 to participate in their visit to Castillo de San Marcos, and is a fun way for young visitors and their families to get the most out of their visit. <br /><br />Ask a ranger for your workbook or download it <a href="https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/kidsyouth/upload/CASA-Junior-Ranger-Book-September-2014.pdf">here</a> .<br /><br />Once you have your book make sure to view the <a href="https://youtu.be/l9KnEcbq6JM">video</a> , examine the exhibits, and take the self guided tour to get all of the answers<br />. <br />Allow about one hour to complete the Junior Ranger Program.
The timeline exhibit in this room gives general description of the important events in the Castillo's history and a timeline of key dates from the 1400s to 1898.
A website address link to the Castillo de San Marcos Compendium. A collection of rules and regulations specific to Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.
This chapel was the scene of daily worship for hundreds of years. Religion guided all aspects of life in the 15th through 18th centuries. Roman Catholic Christianity was the common faith throughout the Spanish empire, maintaining a single culture and system of government. One of the most important reasons Spain spent so much treasure and blood founding an empire throughout the Americas, the Philippines, and Africa was to take Christian beliefs to lands where they were unknown. <br /><br />British Protestant ideas of Christianity differed yet upheld a similar, if opposing, empire. U.S. soldiers also used this chapel during the 19th century. In the 1870s and 1880s, it also became the center of Captain <br />Richard Pratt's efforts to assimilate Plains and Apache Indian prisoners into white society. Church services and lessons in Christianity were held here for the Native Americans.<br />
Farmers bring crops and food from their fields surrounding the town. Open for trade during the day, but locked up at night, the city gate is the entrance to early 1800s civilization. Here in st. Augustine, Spaniards on the frontier feel safe. The Spanish built this gate when they reconstructed the city's norther wall (the Cubo Line) in 1808, more than 100 years after the Castillo was completed. Having wrestled possession back from the British, the Spanish fortified the town
The central courtyard of the Castillo, which was originally all dirt, served a dual purpose. During peacetime, soldiers would assemble here to drill with their muskets. As the common soldier of the 18th century was illiterate, musket and cannon procedures had to be learned by repetitive drilling, not by reading instruction manuals. Once the men had their drills committed to muscle memory, they would not forget them during the heat of battle. It was also here that the citizens
The log wall at your right is a replica of the Cubo Line. The earth-and-palm-log embankment extended from the Castillo to the San Sebastian River a half-mile behind you. Two defensive walls enclosed the city: the Cubo and Rosario lines. The Cubo Line marks St. Augustine's northern edge.
The Spanish built the star-shaped Castillo de San Marcos in the late-1600s. The star design responded to the advent of a deadly new weapon: the cannon. The fort's complex shape meant a battery of cannons on the gun deck could create interlocking fields of fire.<br /><br />Low and flat on the landscape, star-shaped forts used an obstacle course of defenses. Diamond-shaped protruding corners called bastions created crossfire to repel the enemy. From the bastions and curtain wall, cannon fire could deter or engage an advancing army. A wide ditch at the base of the fort lacked cover for invaders, allowing musket fire to rain down from above. Thick fort walls and a rising slope deflected incoming cannonballs. The fort design has stood the test of time: despite attacks, the Castillo was never conquered.<br />
Enemy troops would have encountered an obstacle course of rising slopes, low walls,and ditches before reaching the Castillo's walls. The Spanish built this extensive defensive system to help protect the fort. The ravelin, a wedge-shaped structure, shields the entrance. The moat and covered way enable soldiers to move around the fort, protected from enemy fire. The glacis limits how much of the fort the enemy can see or strike
Spanish soldiers watch in horror as English troops set fire to their homes. They are helpless. The drawbridges are up. The soldier-settlers and their families are sheltered within the crowded fortress. Except for a few rooms to house the guards on duty, the fort has no living quarters.<br /><br />During the nearly 2-month-long siege in 1702, the English failed to conquer the Castillo, but left St. Augustine in ashes. After the siege, the determined Spanish rebuilt their homes and added more defenses to protect their town.<br />
At the park entrance, credit cards are preferred for payment. You can also <a href="https://www.recreation.gov/sitepass/2620">purchase your pass in advance</a> , which saves time at the entrance station. Eighty percent of your entrance fees help fund projects that improve your experience here. We appreciate your support!
The flags in the first room represent the different nations the Castillo has served: Hapsburg and Bourbon Spain, Great Britain, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America. Though the fort has changed hands between countries many times, every transfer was negotiated through treaty and agreement, not battle.
A monument not only of stone and mortar but of human determination and endurance, the Castillo de San Marcos symbolizes the clash between cultures which ultimately resulted in our uniquely unified nation. Still resonant with the struggles of an earlier time, these original walls provide tangible evidence of America's grim but remarkable history.
The Spanish built the Castillo de San Marcos along the winding, shallow channel of the Matanzas River. Any ships entering the inlet faced the fort head on, unable to deploy their guns broadside. The strategic location kept marauding pirates and attacking British warships at bay. During the 1740 British siege, ships from Cuba used the inlet at the southern end of Anastasia Island to resupply the town. After the siege, knowing enemies could also use the inlet, the Spanish built
Welcome to the gun deck! The Castillo de San Marcos is one of the tallest buildings in town, which means it's a great place from which to view the skyline of the Ancient City. Take time to stroll clockwise around the gun deck and learn about some of our local landmarks.
After marching through miles of wilderness, the Castillo is within sight, seemingly close. But can it be taken? A treacherous obstacle course of rising slopes (glacis), low walls (covered way), and a moat, all protected by Spanish soldiers and cannons await anyone any foolish enough to attack.<br /><br />The massive, high walls of the fort provide its defenders with a perfect view of enemy movements. The cannons within the star-shaped fort are positioned to catch attackers in a deadly crossfire. In 1702 and 1740, attackers tried long sieges rather than attempt a direct assault on this fortress.<br />
After days of watching the British prepare, bursts of smoke signal their attack from Anastasia Island. The sentry in the San Carlos watchtower in front of you yells and rings the bell. His quick action alerts the garrison that the British are firing at the Castillo. Soldiers surge to their posts or run for cover.<br /><br />This marked the beginning of a 38-day siege in 1740. In the end, cannon fire partially damaged the eastern outer wall and the bombardment killed 2 townspeople.<br />
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument bookstore run by our partner, Eastern National. You can find a variety of books covering various periods of Castillo's history. You can also get your NPS Passport stamped here.
Several different and widely varying Indian cultures have left their mark on Florida history, some indigenous, some displaced, and some forcibly moved to the area. Each has a unique and fascinating story to tell. <br /><br />
The tiny doorway you see here is the entrance to the original gunpowder magazine. The Spanish realized soon after construction that the little room was too humid to store powder, so they used it for storage and as a trash pit during the 51 days of the 1702 Siege. Eventually, a new magazine was built in the northwest corner. When the Spanish renovated the Castillo in the mid-1700s, the old magazine and the ladder room were sealed, not to be opened again until 1833, when the U.S. Army was performing their own modifications. <br />
Here is a selection of videos to help expand on your visit.<br /> <br />The park video plays on a continuous loop (approximately every 15 minutes) in our theater located to the far left of the courtyard as viewed from the entrance, or by tapping <a href="https://youtu.be/l9KnEcbq6JM">HERE</a> .<br />
This small cell acted as the town jail for the Spanish and as a military jail under British occupation. During the American Revolution, South Carolina statesman and patriot Christopher Gadsden was held in solitary confinement here for 42 weeks.
Every Spanish bronze cannon and mortar has its own story. Each was individually cast, so by examining the engraved lettering and scrollwork, you can discover its origins and the Castillo's ties to Spain. Read other bronze guns as you explore the fort.
Throughout the years there have been many different uses of Castillo's rooms. Although there are no displays in this room, we do use it frequently for giving different programs about Castillo's story.
This was the only way in or out of the Castillo. Here you can see the large drawbridge and the portcullis, the heavy sliding door. Between these two wooden barriers, the strength of the Castillo is apparent. The thickness of the outer walls varies from 14 to 19 feet thick at the base and tapers to 9 feet towards the top. Note the blocks of coquina stone that make up these walls and how they were set together. There are over 400,000 blocks of stone in the Castillo, all of it cut and set by hand.<br />
The design of the fort consists of four diamond-shaped bastions and four connecting walls known as curtains. Cannon were mounted in the embrasures, the cut-outs in the parapet walls. These walls protected the cannon and their crews from incoming fire.
The design of the fort consists of four diamond-shaped bastions and four connecting walls known as curtains. Cannon were mounted in the embrasures, the cut-outs in the parapet walls. These walls protected the cannon and their crews from incoming fire. The east curtain, facing the water, originally had a parapet wall and embrasures like the other curtains. However, anticipating that most attacks would come from the ocean, the Spanish lowered the wall so that more cannon could
The design of the fort consists of four diamond-shaped bastions and four connecting walls known as curtains. Cannon were mounted in the embrasures, the cut-outs in the parapet walls. These walls protected the cannon and their crews from incoming fire.
The design of the fort consists of four diamond-shaped bastions and four connecting walls known as curtains. Cannon were mounted in the embrasures, the cut-outs in the parapet walls.
The Castillo was originally built to act not only as a refuge for the townspeople but also as a military warehouse. The Spanish used the western casemates for food storage, and they would have looked much like the supply room. Other casemates were filled with military supplies such as gunpowder, hardware, ship repair materials, and as many as 20,000 cannonballs. <br /><br />All of the stone casemates were constructed between 1738 and 1756, a time of almost constant warfare between Spain and England in the New World. The walls were raised to 35 feet during this remodeling, and these arched ceilings were constructed. Vaulted casemates disperse the weight of the structure throughout the supporting walls and foundation, so they are able to hold much more weight than a simple squared roof. This made these rooms "bomb proof" and allowed the Spanish to place more cannon on the gun deck above. When the casemates were finished, the Castillo was able to defend itself, the city, and all approaches to the city out to three and a half miles, the maximum range of the 16-, 18-, and 24-pounder cannon mounted along the fort's walls. <br />
Accessible only through the Sally Port are the Spanish guard rooms and a locked room that served as the town jail. During Spanish occupation, soldiers did not live inside the Castillo. They walked to work from their homes in town. The soldiers detailed to be on overnight guard duty would have used these rooms to rest, cook food and spend free time socializing and playing games. The room that is currently our bookstore, was once part of the officers' quarters.<br />
During Spanish occupation, soldiers did not live inside the Castillo. They walked to work from their homes in town. The soldiers detailed to be on guard duty would have used these rooms to rest, cook food, and spend free time socializing and playing games.
Castillo de San Marcos symbolizes Spain's vast New World Empire. Built between 1672 and 1695, the coquina fort replaced a series of wooden forts that had protected St. Augustine for more than 100 years. improvements in the mid-1700s helped the Castillo, with its soldiers and guns, keep pirates and the British at bay. Spain controlled Florida, and the Castillo helped keep their enemies away from the Gulf Stream shipping lanes. Spanish treasure fleets used these routes to carry sugar, tobacco, pearls, silver, and gold to Europe.
The Castillo was originally built to act not only as a refuge for the townspeople, but also as a military warehouse. The Spanish used the western casemates for food storage, and they would have looked much like the locked supply room. Other casemates were filled with military supplies such as gunpowder, hardware, ship repair materials and as many as 20,000 cannonballs.<br /> <br />All of the stone casemates were constructed between 1738 and 1756, a time of almost constant warfare between Spain and England in the New World. The walls were raised 35 feet during this remodeling and these curved ceilings were constructed. Vaulted casemates disperse the weight of the structure throughout the supporting walls and foundation, so they are able to hold much more weight than a simple squared roof. This made these rooms "bomb proof" and allowed the Spanish to place more cannon on the gun deck above. When the casemates were finished, the Castillo was able to defend itself, the city, and all approaches to the city out to three and a half miles, the maximum range of the 16-, 18-, and 24- pounder cannon mounted along the fort's walls.<br />
This room shows you how the British remodeled eight of the casemates during their occupation of Florida from 1763 to 1784. Divided into East and West, Florida remained loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution. During the war, St. Augustine's population nearly doubled as loyalists from Georgia and the Carolinas headed south for safety. Over 500 British soldiers were housed inside the Castillo. Many more were placed in the homes of local citizens.<br />
The most vulnerable part of the fort is its entrance in front of you. To protect it, the Spanish designed an elaborate set of defenses: a heavy grated gate called a "portcullis," 2 drawbridges, and the ravelin. The larger drawbridge took 3 soldiers 15 minutes to close and remained open except in times of danger. Soldiers closed the outer drawbridge at night when most of them returned to their homes in the town. The ravelin protected the fort's front door.
This colonial restroom had a twice-daily, natural flushing system. Incoming tides filled the pit with seawater, and outgoing tides flushed the waste out into the bay.
