St Augustine Tourist Attractions
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St Augustine is often referred to as the oldest city in the U.S. Prior to its "discovery" by Europeans, Calusa and Timucuan Indians populated the area.
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
Spanish forces built Castillo de San Marcos overlooking Matazanas Bay between 1672 and 1695 to protect their treasure fleets from pirates and an aggressive international armada. It has 12-foot (3.64m) thick, 33-foot (2.5m) high walls made of coquina, a local shellrock. It is reputedly the oldest masonry fort in the U.S. Three sides of the fort are surrounded by a moat and the fourth contains a drawbridge. There are triangular bastions on each of the four corners and the gun deck once held around 75 canons.Castillo de San Marcos has changed hands a number of times throughout its history, from the Spanish to the English and back again and then finally to the Americans when the territory was sold to them in 1821.The Americans used it during the Seminole wars of the 1830's, mostly as a prison. Court-martialed American soldiers were also imprisoned here until the late 19th century. It was decommissioned in 1900 and made into a national monument in 1924.
Fort Matanzas National Monument
Fort Matanzas National Monument was built in 1740 to guard the inlet and serve as a place for warning of approaching enemies. The Monument tells the story of conflict as European nations fought for control of the shipping lanes off the coast of colonial Florida. The name Matanzas, Spanish for massacre, refers to the slaughterof about 250 Frenchmen by the Spanish in 1565. The watch tower fort, constructed 1740-42, served as protection against any English ships that might sneak up on St. Augustine from the south. The park also preserves about 300 acres of natural salt marsh, maritime forest, scrub, and ocean beach. A half-mile nature trailand picnic area are also located near the visitor center.
Lightner Museum
The Lightner Museum is named for Chicago publisher and editor of "Hobbies" magazine, Otto C. Lightner. His diverse and eclectic collection of costumes, furnishings, mechanical musical instruments and other artifacts, has occupied this building since the late 1940's. Formerly the luxurious Alcanzar hotel, built by Railroad magnate Henry Flagler in 1888, it now contains three floors of exhibits. Among the displays on the second floor is Lightner's large collection of art glass including Tiffany pieces and 18th century porcelain. Lastly, the third floor of the Lightner Museum has Oriental art, American sculpture and more.
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Oldest House
This is reputedly one of the oldest houses in the U.S. It sits on a site that the St Augustine Historical Society says has been occupied by Europeans since the early 1600's. The present structure, Oldest House, also known as the González-Alvarez house, was built sometime around 1702 out of coquina, a soft, local shell-rock. One of the owners was Tomás González, a soldier stationed at the Castillo San Marcos. Another was Geronimo Alvarez, who bought the house in 1790, which stayed in his family for nearly 100 years. It was renovated several times throughout its history and today visitors can see the evolution from its Spanish beginnings through British influences to early American style. There are exhibits on the former residents and examples of different period furnishings.
Fort Mose
Over 250 years ago, slaves risked their lives to escape slavery on English plantations in South Carolina. Africans and Native Americans became allies to create the first underground railroad.The fugitives came to Fort Mose, where the Spanish freed them in return for their conversion to Catholicism. In 1738, the Spanish established a fort they called Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, now known as Fort Mose. This area soon became a fortified town for African Americans. Fort Mose is considered the first legally sanctioned free black town in the United States.
Ripley's Believe It Or Not
This was the first of three Ripley's Believe it or Not! museum built in Florida. It occupies the 1887 Castle Warden, named for William Warden, a partner of Henry Flagler and John D. Rockefeller. The Ripley Museums are filled with art, oddities, and curiosities from around the world. The St Augustine branch features Beauregard, a Six legged cow and a Ferris wheel made out of Meccano pieces. Robert Ripley was an international traveler with a penchant for the weird. In total he visited 198 countries over 40 years.
St Photios Shrine
St Photios Shrine honors the memory of the first colony of Greeks in the New World. In 1768, a boatload of 400 Greeks, 900 Minorcans and a few dozen Corsicans and Italians arrived in St Augustine en route to the ill-fated New Smyrna Colony. The new settlers found refuge in the 1749 Avero House, after living conditions in the colony became unbearable. They set up a place of worship here in 1777 and the present shrine was dedicated in 1971. The museum at St Photios contains historical information about the colony and other Greek Orthodox relics.
Cathedral of St Augustine
The parish community of St. Augustine began in 1565 when Father Francisco Lopez celebrated that first Mass. The cornerstone of the the cathedral was laid in 1793 and then reconstructed in 1887 after a fire bruned everything but walls and the facade. The oil paintings representing the stations of the cross are copies of ones in the Vatican's Pauline Chapel. Other items of note are Victorian stained glass windows and altars of sculpted marble.
Oldest Wooden School House
This school was built of cedar, cypress and driftwood around 1750, making it one of the oldest schools in the country. It became the first co-ed school when it allowed boys and girls in 1788. The museum features old-time educational paraphernalia such as ink wells, slates, old schoolbooks and other artifacts. Juan Genoply and his family lived upstairs and the school's kitchen was built away from the school for fear of fires.
Pena-Peck House Museum
Pena-Peck House Museum was built in the 1740's and served as the headquarters of the Spanish Royal Treasurer, Juan Esteban de Pena. New Englander Dr. Seth Peck purchased the house in 1837 and he turned part of the building into his offices. Today, the Women's Exchange, who led tours through the authentically furnished rooms, runs Pena-Peck House. There are Spanish artifacts as well as furniture shipped by Peck from New England.
Government House
Government House is housed in the former Spanish municipal government building built in 1713. It has been renovated a number of times over the years and today contains the headquarters of the Historic St Augustine Preservation Board and Government House Museum. Displays include Spanish Colonial artifacts, items from the British period, military paraphernalia and more.
Museum of Weapons and Early American History (closed)
ATTRACTION IS CLOSED.The Museum of Weapons and Early American History houses a large collection of armaments and weaponry, most notably from the Civil War period. Other highlights include early American historical artifacts and other curiosities such as a bible that stopped a bullet and another, which didn't; shipwreck artifacts, and antiqur periodicals.
Ponce De León's Fountain of Youth National Archeological Park
The Fountain of Youth Archecological Site claims to be the original fountain of youth chronicled by Ponce de León after his landing in the area in 1513. Archeological teams have unearthed various historical artifacts here including a Timucuan Indian burial site, a coquina stone cross rumored to be León's original landing marker and other Spanish Colonial artifacts.
Ximenez-Fatio House
Spanish merchant Andrés Ximenez built this two-story coquina house in 1798 as his private home and as a general store. The house has undergone several renovations in its history and was once operated as a boarding house. Today, it has been restored to its 1830's appearance and guided tours show various rooms with period furnishings and other archeological artifacts found on-site.
Zorayda Castle
Zorayda Castle is a scaled down version of the 12th century Moorish Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. Eccentric millionaire Franklin Smith built it in 1883 for his private home. It contains luxurious interior detail including tropical hardwood furniture and the "Sultan's Den" with a 2,300 year-old rug made from woven cat fur. Over the years, the building has been used as a speakeasy and a movie set.
Memorial Presbyterian Church
Memorial Presbyterian Church was built in 1889, the parish began in 1824. The Venetian Renaissance style and copper dome are reminiscent of St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, Italy. Some of the features to see are the mahogany pews, marble floors, and stained glass windows.
Oldest Store Museum
The Oldest Store Museum is located in a turn- of-the-century general store named C.F. Hamblen's. It contains over 100, 000 items from the store's original stock. There are bikes, tools, guns, household goods, medicines, hardware and vintage automobiles.
World Golf Village and Hall of Fame
The World Golf Hall of Fame pays tribute to the history of the game of golf, it features interactive exhibits, golf artifacts and video presentations that explain the game.The village consists of the Walk of Champions, an IMAX theater, several golf courses, a convention center and shopping.
Bridge of Lions
This concrete arch bridge takes A1A to link Anastasia Island with St. Augustine. The Bridge of Lions was built in the 1920's with arches, tile-roofed towers and marble lions statues.
Marineland
20 mi. south of St Augustine is Marineland of Florida, with spectacular performances by trained dolphins and sealions and numbers of sharks, barracudas and giant turtles.
Mission of Nombre de Dios
Mission of Nombre de Dios began in 1565 when the city was founded. A 208 ft stainless-steel cross marks the site of the founding of St. Augustine and the location of the first parish mass. A small museum is also located on the site.
Potter's Wax Museum
Potter's Wax Museum contains the life-size wax statues of more than 160 historically significant people including Cleopatra, Hitler, Julius Caesar, Napoleon and Rambo.
Sightseeing Trains
The St Augustine Sightseeing Trains provides a 7 mile narrated tour that includes stop-offs at major points of interest, shopping and restaurants. This sightseeing tour company has been in operation since 1953.
3-D World
3D World offers 3D movies and animated shows including a water and light show in motion simulation theaters.
Historic Old Jail Complex
The complex consists of the Florida Heritage Museum, the Old Jail and St Augustine Historical Tours.
Florida Heritage Museum
Florida Heritage Museum is housed in the Old Jail. With over 400 years highlighted featuring Florida's growth from early Indian culture through the Flagler era. Pictures and personal items as well as displays of a model railroad tracing the route he established between Jacksonville and Key West highlight the life of Henry Flagler.The collections at the Florida Heritage Museum include antique dolls and toys, 16th century Spanish weapons, and a life-size sunken ship and its treasures.
Old Jail Museum
The former St Augustine jail, built in 1892, was turned into a tourist attraction in 1953. Aside from housing criminals, the jail was the home of the sheriff and his family. The sheriff's living quarters, the kitchen, the different groups of cells (for blacks, whites, women and solitary) and the execution room are available for touring. There is a display of weaponry on the second floor.
St Augustine Historical Tours
Six narrated tours, that last 2 hours to 2 days, visit many sites throughout the Old City in open-air trolleys.
North American Top-Gun
Located at the St. Augustine Airport, North American TopGun provides rides and air-to-air combat training in a WWII fighter-type aircraft.
Old Spanish Cemetery
The Christian Indian village of Tolomato was on this site and from 1784-1892 it served as a Catholic burial ground.
Plaza De La Constitucion
The business section of the Old city was built here and the slave market was held here.
Zero Milestone
This coquina ball, Zero Milestone, notes the eastern end between St Augustine and Pensacola.
St. Augustine - Mullet Beach Gallery
Mullet Beach Gallery is a small gallery that showcases artists from St. Augustine.
More St Augustine Pictures
Map of St Augustine Attractions
Map - St. Augustine
