Gun Deck Views

Anastasia Island

Quick Facts

Amenities

2 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Scenic View/Photo Spot

Welcome to the gun deck! The Castillo de San Marcos is one of the tallest buildings in town, which means it's a great place from which to view the skyline of the Ancient City. Take time to stroll clockwise around the gun deck and learn about some of our local landmarks.

Anastasia Island

From the top of the stairs, you are looking east towards Anastasia Island, a 15-mile-long barrier island that protects the mainland from wave and storm action. For a short period of time, the first settlers of St. Augustine tried to move their community to the island, but the dynamic nature of the land made it impossible. When the British attacked from Georgia in 1740, James Oglethorpe set up a 40-gun cannon battery directly across the bay from the Castillo and bombarded it for nearly a month.

Water Battery & Shot Furnace

As you look down from the east wall, you will see an area known as the water battery. In the 1840s, the U. S. Army filled in the eastern side of the moat, installed large cannons along the seawall, and built the furnace for creating red-hot cannonballs to fire at wooden ships. The cannons were mounted on the granite blocks near the seawall, and the half-circle tracks enabled them to pivot almost 180 degrees.

Ravelin

This triangular structure stands seperate from the front entrance of the fort. It shielded the fort's weakest point. The wooden drawbridge, from enemy fire. It was never finished as planned. If completed, the outer wall would have been five feet higher, with embrasures for cannon and a powder magazine. The drawbridge here and the main drawbridge are both working reconstructions. The ravelin bridge would have been secured each night at sunset; the main bridge was secured only when the fort was under attack.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

To the st is the St. Augusoutheastine Lighthouse with its distinctive red top and black & white spiral-striped tower. It was finished in 1874 and replaced an old Spanish coquina watchtower that had been adapted for use as a lighthouse. Lit by its original first order Fresnel lens, the lighthouse still serves as an aid to navigation for boats at sea. Visitors can climb the tower for a spectacular view of the Ancient City!

St. Augustine Inlet

As you stand near the bell tower and look northwest, you can look out the St. Augustine inlet to the Atlantic Ocean. The original inlet to the Matanzas Bay was closer to where the lighthouse stands today, and anyone trying to bring a ship into the harbor had to navigate around the barrier islands and tricky sandbars, giving the city added protection. The natural inlet filled in over time, making it necessary for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to cut the current one in 1940.

Bridge of Lions

Connecting downtown St. Augustine and Anastasia Island is the Bridge of Lions, named for the Carrara marble lions guarding the west side of the bridge. Construction began in 1925 at the height of Florida's first land boom and was completed two years later. After decades of wear and tear, the bridge was taken apart, restored piece by piece, and reassembled in a 4-year rehabilitation project that was completed in 2010.

First National Bank Building

Directly south of the Castillo, you can see St. Augustine's first and only "skyscraper!" The building was completed in 1927 and has been owned by several different banks over the years; it was converted to a private event venue in 2014. It remains the only building of its kind in town, because St. Augustine now has a height limit of 35 feet for new construction.

Cathedral Basilica

To the right of the bank building is the bell tower and steeple of the Cathedral Basilica, the oldest church in Florida. Though it was built in the 1790s, its congregation was established in 1565 with the founding of St. Augustine, making it the oldest Christian congregation in the United States. The previous church was destroyed by fire, and the current building was gutted by fire in 1887, after which it was renovated and the bell tower was added.

Flagler College

The matching towers and brick smokestack visible to the southwest are part of Flagler College, formerly the Ponce de Leon Hotel. The hotel was opened in 1888 by railroad tycoon Henry Flagler as a luxury winter resort for his wealthy northern friends, beginning St. Augustine's "golden age" of tourism. It was used as barracks by the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II. Declining visitor numbers caused the hotel to close in 1967, but it re-opened a year later as Flagler College, now a 4-year, private liberal arts college of about 2,800 students.

Memorial Presbyterian Church

The green dome to the right of the college belongs to Memorial Presbyterian Church, built by Henry Flagler in honor of his daughter Jennie Louise, who died of complications following childbirth. She and her child, as well as Flagler himself and his first wife, are laid to rest in a mausoleum inside the church. The design was inspired by St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy, and it is well known for its beautiful stained glass windows.

Cubo Line

As you look down from the west wall of the Castillo, you will see a replica of the Cubo Line, one of the walls that once encircled St. Augustine. When the English attacked the city in 1702, they failed to take the fort, but they burned the city to the ground as they left. To keep this from happening again, the Spanish built walls to protect their homes. The Cubo Line went half a mile west to the San Sebastian River. Another wall, the Rosario Line, bordered the west edge of town, near where Cordova Street is today. The walls were composed of earth and palm logs and had a shallow moat along the outside of it.

Visitor Information Center

The St. Augustine Visitor Information Center and parking garage are visible to the northwest of the fort. The VIC was built by the Works Progress Administration in 1935 and used as a community center until the city began using it for visitor orientation in the 1950s. The garage behind the VIC opened in 2006 and offers convenient parking 24 hours a day, year-round.

Great Cross

The large cross to the north of the Castillo stands on the grounds of Mission Nombre de Dios and marks the place where historians believe Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the founder of St. Augustine, came ashore on September 8, 1565, and claimed this land for Spain and the Catholic Church. The Great Cross stands 208 feet tall and was dedicated on September 8, 1965, to commemorate the city's 400th birthday. Today, the mission grounds also contain a church, a museum, and a shrine to the Virgin Mary.