Source: WTL photograph© June 2007.
Image: St. Augustine's old Spanish city gates in foreground; the Castillo de San Marcos in the background. A wooden and earthen redoubt/wall linked the fortress to these gates and encircled the entire city making it a medieval-style walled city.
Comments: Just before going through the gates, we stop, turn left, and look toward the Castillo. The word castillo comes from Spanish for "castle." Actually, it is not and never was a castle; rather, it was a fortress and prison, but now it is a national park. The Castillo was constructed between 1672 and 1695. It is made out of coquina rock quarried from nearby Anastasia Island.
Latin American humanities themes: Colonial protective architecture; military arts for protection from foreign invaders during the colonial period; economic protection for tourist income in the present.