Castillo San Marcos

I finally got a chance to finish processing the pics of places I took Misty and Bob to see while they were here.  When we went to St. Augustine, we finished the day at the Castillo San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the United States.  Saw it as a child about 50 years ago and it is still impressive.  Click on any picture to see the details and then back to return.

First up, Bob and Dee looking out at the Bay.  Cold and windy, but sunny.  You can wander all around the outside for free.

 

These are pictures of the Castillo.  You can see how big it is with Bob for scale.  The second pic has a chopper flying by, a nifty juxtaposition of old and new.

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Here’s the moat.

This shows gun emplacements and the cannon ball oven.  Balls would be heated to red hot and then shot at wooden ships.  Pretty effective.

Construction began in 1672.  This is a closeup of the coquina used to make the fort.  "Coquina" (Spanish for "tiny shell"), is a soft limestone made up of broken shells and sand cemented together by calcium carbonate, essentially creating a natural form of concrete. The stone for the Castillo was quarried on nearby Anastasia island.  When under siege, the English cannon had little effect on the walls of the fort. The coquina was very effective at absorbing the impact of the shells, allowing little damage to the walls.

You can read more about the Castillo at http://www.nps.gov/casa/index.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_San_Marcos.

Thanks for stopping by.  As always, comments are welcome.

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((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
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