Castillo de san marcos national monument guide

In the Plaza de Armas, the fort’s courtyard, you’ll see one of the three original wells, still with freshwater. The well is a good spot to start exploring various exhibits in the rooms

surrounding the plaza. As you follow the self-guided tour clockwise around the courtyard, posters walk you chronologically through the fort’s construction and history. Fires, rot, storms,

termites and tides destroyed St. Augustine’s first nine wooden forts, so the Spanish began building this stone one in 1672, a project not completed until 1695. Historians believe they used,

at least in part, African laborers (both free and enslaved) and Native American tribesmen (who were paid but forced to work). The laborers quarried more than 150 million pounds of coquina,

then barged the blocks across the bay to the site, and laid them into walls, all by hand. In the 18th century, the Spanish further fortified the Castillo. It’s not clear whether they knew

about coquina’s special properties. “It’s possible that they didn’t, which is why they made the walls so thick,” says Leverett. As you continue the self-tour, you’ll see storage rooms where

the Spanish stockpiled ammunition, gunpowder and tools, as well as provisions such as beans, corn, flour and rice. A gunpowder room looks more like a crawlspace with a door about 3 feet

high, which children frequently crawl through to explore the room. Several rooms convey the fort’s history under the English governance, after the Britixh took Florida from the Spanish in

1763. You can also learn about the fort's 19th-century history: After Florida became part of the U.S. in 1821, the fort was renamed Fort Marion in honor of Revolutionary War officer

Francis Marion, known as the Swamp Fox. Its Fort Marion days included some grim happenings, such as its use from 1875 to 1878 to imprison 74 Native-Americans from five tribes, many of them

survivors of the brutal Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 in what’s now Colorado. (Congress officially changed the national monument’s name back to Castillo de San Marcos in 1942.) Once you

complete the fort walk-around, take a moment to stand in the middle of Plaza de Armas to imagine being here in the turbulent colonial era. In peacetime, soldiers practiced their military

skills on the plaza to commit musket use to muscle memory, crucial for battle. When an enemy threatened, the residents of the surrounding St. Augustine flocked here for safety, building

shelters on the plaza and cooking food. In the 1702 siege, about 1,500 soldiers and civilians lived inside the fort for 51 days — a feat unimaginable by modern standards. If you’re able,

climb the staircase to the bastions and the Gun Deck. There’s no elevator or wheelchair access, but the stairs aren’t steep with all 47 steps big and wide. On the deck are cannons that were

used to return fire — some original, others replicas. You’ll also be rewarded with a refreshing wind, spectacular view of Matanzas Bay and the possible sighting of a dolphin or two. Looking

out to sea, visualize approaching enemy ships dropping anchor and pummeling the fort, and sense the attackers’ frustration and bewilderment at its impenetrable walls. You won’t find any

cannonballs lodged in the walls because the Spanish replaced damaged sections with new pieces, but you can imagine this peculiar sight. Before the pandemic, fort staffers dressed in Spanish

costumes and fired the cannons on weekends, paying tribute to the fort’s tumultuous history, but the program is currently suspended to avoid attracting large crowds. Similarly, rangers’

talks, formerly given several times a day at Plaza de Armas, are suspended, but rangers are on hand to answer questions. RANGER’S TIP: The popular museum has a small parking lot that tends

to fill up on busy days. To get a spot, particularly near the entrance, Leverett suggests coming early. Alternatively, you can park your car at one of the city’s parking lots or garages and

walk 10 to 15 minutes, or take a trolley. NEARBY PIRATE AND TREASURE MUSEUM: Only a three-minute walk west, this museum unveils truths and myths about the area’s famous buccaneers. Also

learn why Spanish explorer Ponce de León named the land Florida while he was searching for the fountain of youth, believed to exist in the New World.