Source: This aerial photograph is taken from a beautiful sister-cities book: St. Augustine, Florida; San Agustín, Florida; Avilés, Spain; Avilés, España. Avilés, Spain: 2001, n.p (Copyright © 2001, Foto Angelín, S.C.).
Comments: This is a fully bilingual and bi-national book that presents a photographic essay of both cities. The historical area we are going to focus on is mostly contained within the limits of this photograph.
San Agustín was founded by the Spanish explorer/conquistador) Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (1519—1574). Many of the buildings you see in this photo were first constructed in the 18th century during the so-called first Spanish period, but some of the buildings' foundations date to the late 16th century. The reason why there are almost no remains for structures from the 16th and 17th centuries, except for the fortress, is that the town was burned to the groud several times by English pirates, starting with Sir Francis Drake in 1586. Nowadays, St. Augustine is a amalgamation of many cultures; but it is worth noting that it has almost always been that way: Timucuan Indians, other Native Americans, Spanish, Balearic Islanders, Greeks, free and slave African blacks, English, various European Americans, Afro-Americans, and many more. The population of St. Augustine in 2015 was about 14,000.