Thursday, August 25, 2016

August 26, 2016



 Castillo de San Marcos


The Chapel of St. Mark along the Castillo’s north wall was dedicated in the 1750s, replacing an earlier chapel which later became officers’ quarters. The niche in the wall would have held religious statuary. The Spanish used this room as a sanctuary until the British arrived, and it is possible that the Protestant Englishman repurposed the room as a chapel to celebrate their own faith. Imagine the walls painted white with a dark red stripe along the bottom (computer models show such a scene, using as proof the remnants of color that still remain), and the altar full of religious items and flickering candles.

 Fountain of Youth


St. Augustine is full of such beautiful, unexpectedly aesthetic scenes, and many of them can be found at the Fountain of Youth. I’m not sure what this window’s original purpose was, but now its main goal seems to be evoking a bygone world. Can’t you imagine finding something like this in old Spain? The framing ferns are a nice touch. I remember watching a travel video that showed tourist attractions in Spain, and one of the sections discussed the old Moorish city of Granada. It was stated that poet Francisco de Icaza once said, “. . . there is nothing in life, nothing so sad as to be blind in Granada.” Likewise, there is nothing so sad as to walk St. Augustine without a camera.


(c) 2015-2016 St. Augustine Fridays

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