Castillo San Marcos


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North America » United States » Florida » St Augustine
January 12th 2011
Published: February 24th 2011
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While walking by the waterside we stumbled across this historic fort which is currently run by the national park service and as Bob needed his America the Beautiful Pass anyway we decided to purchase it here and see the fort. While the only tours given are by volunteers to visiting schools there is a self guided tour that is worthwhile taking. This fort looks imposing and it was, built in a starlike pattern with extremely thick walls that were 12 - 15 ft thick, there is a dry moat around the fort that would have been used for cattle as well as slowing an opposing army down. A heavy portculis is on the drawbridge although chances are the enemy wouldn't even get that close. Thanks to it's star like design it was possible to fire both cannon and muskets from multiple directions at the same time and as canon ball had a distance of 2 - 5 miles,it was difficult to get close to the fort at all. The Castillo San Marcos was originally built by the Spanish with sand, water, limestone and crushed shells which made the walls sort of like a sponge in that they absorbed canon fire rather than being damaged. The Spanish ran regimented drills daily before the fort was given to the British in a peace settlement. The British were responsible for the second floor to the fort. While under British rule during the revolutionary time period Florida actually was considered the 14th and 15th colonies.The interesting thing about this fort is that although it served under five flags it was never taken by force,each time it changed hands it was due to a peace settlement or land trade.


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