The Oldest City

There are a pair of these huge marble lions at the entrance to the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, Florida.  These lions are replicas of the Medici Lions in Florence, Italy - and they were sculpted in Italy as well.

City Gate

  St. Augustine's claim to fame it that it is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the US.  St. Augustine was founded in 1565 - well before the US was the US.  For over 200 years St. Augustine was the capital of "Spanish Florida".  Then finally in 1819 Spain ceded Florida to the US.  And all that time folks were living in St. Augustine.

St. Augustine is so old that it had a City Gate that provided the only entrance into the city through the lines of defense.  The city was of course guarded on the water by a Fort which is fairly close to the City Gate.

Castillo de San Marcos and some really nice cannons!

 The city got a real boost after Henry Flagler of Standard Oil fame came to town for a visit.  He decided he liked it so much that he would turn St. Augustine into a play place for the rich and famous.  So he set about having beautiful churches and hotels built.  The architecture in St. Augustine is beautiful and gives the city its great character.  And then of course there is Flagler College which is just stunning.  

St. Augustine

Street under canopy of Live Oaks

Memorial Presbyterian Church

 

Thought it was really cool that they used Harbor Chain for fence

 The fence posts at Flagler College are joined together by harbor chain.  Those spiked balls were chained together and laid at a harbor entrance in order to disable enemy ships. The idea was to damage the hull of the ship.  Very unique fence for a college!

Beautiful Flagler College

Flager College - even more stunning on the inside

Casa Monica - one of many beautiful hotels

We ended up spending a couple of days in St. Augustine and had a great time exploring the city.  Very worth the visit.  Too touristy of a town to live in - but a great place to visit.  We are close to being out of Florida - moving on to Georgia.