| Actual Image
Ft. Matanzas (42)
asajernigan
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2363 W: 61 N: 2487]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (9140) | This is one of the two torrents of the fort. I was trying to show the contrast of the old fort and the modern boat passing by. Three hundred years ago that boat would have been an easy target for the canons of the fort.
Fort Matanzas represents a well-preserved masonry fort built by the Spanish between 1740 and 1742. The tall tower provided a platform to observe vessels approaching St. Augustine from the south, and the cannon blocked potential enemy advancement via the Matanzas River, the backdoor to St. Augustine.
In 1565, almost 175 years before construction began on Fort Matanzas, another story was played out at the Matanzas Inlet--the massacre of the French Huguenots. A large French force under Jean Ribault had left their settlement of Fort Caroline in Spanish-claimed territory near present-day Jacksonville to attack the Spanish at their new settlement of St. Augustine (San Agustin). |
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