Fort Matanzas National Monument

The Fort Matanzas National Monument is a built by the Spanish Fort near St. Augustine in Florida. It was completed in 1740, it got its name from a massacre, 1565 250 shipwrecked Huguenots executed them when Spanish settlers under the leadership of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés from France, as he had orders to kill all the Protestants ( matanzas, Spanish for Massacre ).

History

1740 James Oglethorpe besieged the fort Castillo de San Marcos and the neighboring city of St. Augustine. The siege and the supply of his troops was partially over the mouth of the Matanzas River up the river. Immediately after the failed siege began the Spaniard, on Rattlesnake Iceland to build a fort, which was completed with workers from Cuba in 1742. Their task was to monitor the estuary, even from the sea. The marshy ground was stabilized with pine logs on which the plant was built. Nearing completion in 1742, the British tried again under the leadership of James Oglethorpe over the mouth of the river with 12 vessels penetrate into the interior. The experiment was however thwarted by the already fortified fort. This incident was the only one in the history of the fort

After the Peace of Paris of 1783 the Spaniards had at the fort no longer interested and let it expire. When the United States Florida, and thus the fort took over, it was in a state that was conducive neither to defend the mouth, let alone to house soldiers. 1916 began with the restoration of the fort, which was declared a National Monument in 1924. Since 1933, the fort is managed by the National Park Service.

In 1966, the entry in the National Register of Historic Places. The fort is maintained along with the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument as a unit.

Tourism

The fort itself can only be visited by a ferryboat to the operating times of 30 minutes past the hour moves to the island daily. In 2005 1.002.444 people visited the island.

Swell

  • 2006 Statistical Abstract, Public Use Statistics Office, National Park Service
  • National Park Service, Listing of Acreages by Park 12/31/03
St. Augustine (Florida) Treaty of Paris (1783)
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