The most iconic landmark and one of the main attractions of St Augustine must be the Castillo de San Marcos. It overlooks St Augustine Inlet and is the forefront of the city. Built in the 17th century and over 318 years old, it is the oldest masonry fort in the continental US and was built to defend Spain’s claim to the newly found lands.
Most forts at that time were made from wood and easily destroyed, from either hurricanes or invasions. This fort was built from coquina rock (made up from fossilized shells which are clearly visible – the word coquina means “tiny shell”) and saved the area from invasion by the British. It was never taken by force and was only briefly a British colony for 20 years due to the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763, when Florida was ruled by England and was used as a military prison during this time. At the end of the American Revolution in 1784 Florida was returned to Spain until the State became one of the US Territories in 1821.
In 1900 the fort officially was removed from the active list of fortifications and was recognized and added to the list of National Monuments in 1924 and is covered under the National Parks Service.
You can purchase your admission online here or there is a ticketing booth in front of the fort, and the tickets are currently valid for 7 days. It is mostly an outside venue with limited rooms to gain access to and only the ground floor is wheelchair accessible. There is a self-guided tour available and there is no visitor center or ranger-led tours, although you might find one of the volunteer staff on hand.
You enter via a drawbridge and a moat like area and pass through the thick wooden sliding doors. You can see the incredible thickness of the bricks here which were cut and laid by hand. There are a few rooms either side of the entrance which were used as guard rooms and the jail. One of the rooms was once the officer’s quarters and is now the book store, and further along there are a couple of exhibit rooms one of which displays flags from the different nations to have occupied the fort. Further along the rooms were used for troops and the British added the second floor to expand.
In the center of the fort is the courtyard, and stairs lead to the upper level which is home to the gun deck with cannons and amazing views. You can see the lighthouse from up here and look further into the city, as well as having access to the little “turrets”.
It really is worth the visit to this unique historic site and you may need to be prepared to park a little way down at the information center as street parking is very limited.