Mission de Nombre do Dios ~ St Augustine, FL

The Great Cross at the Mission.

Just outside the busiest part of St Augustine lies one of its greatest treasures and one of my favorite places to explore its secrets. The beautiful Mission de Nombre de Dios (Name of God) is a quiet and restful place to come and restore peace to a weary soul. It is usually the first place I visit when I arrive in the city, and the last place I visit as I leave.

Archaeological evidence tells us this, as close as can be determined, is the possible landing site of Pedro Menendez de Aviles – founder of St Augustine. Here, on September 8, 1565, Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales led Menendez and his men in a service of thanks to God as they knelt at a hastily-built rustic altar. The Indians who occupied the village on the site watched in fascination, and imitated the strangers and their “odd” practices; they had never seen or participated in a European religious worship service before.

Enter the Mission grounds by way of an arched bridge over a tranquil lake, and begin your visit in the shadow of the Great Cross. Be sure to pause on the bridge and watch for a fish or two to jump; they do, quite frequently.

Stop and visit the statue of Francisco Lopez as you leave the bridge. It is a beautiful work of art. Immortalized by Dr Ivan Mestrovic, the minister seems almost to breathe as he stands with arms raised and face turned to the heavens in gratitude to God for a safe arrival in a new, strange land. I love this statue; it always gives me goosebumps when I visit it. I am in awe of Dr Mestrovic’s ability to portray something so monumentous, so perfectly.

The Great Cross stands 208 feet tall and was erected in honor of the Mission’s 400th Anniversary in 1965. You probably saw it when you first entered St Augustine; it is visible for quite a distance and is particularly beautiful at night, when it is lighted. A reader shared a very special memory of Mission de Nombre De Dios with me…

“As a child, I was part of the religious procession and dedication ceremony for the cross at the shrine, it is a great memory for me. Our parish priest told me that day that as a native of Florida, the fort and the shrine belonged to me. It made me feel very special.
~ Sheila L, Gainesville, FL

The chapel.

The Mission site has served as a place of worship ever since that first Mass. A slow walk through the beautifully landscaped grounds among gravestones and monuments and places of reflection leads to the Shrine of Our Lady of la Leche; the first shrine in the United States dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus. The tiny chapel dates from sometime in the 1700′s; the present chapel was reconstructed in 1914 of coquina, replacing the one before it and the one before that. This pretty chapel, now almost covered with ivy, looks as though it grew there. I love nice days when the windows are opened and breezes drift through the little building. I especially love the way it smells… it just smells clean and dry, like old churches do!

Take a few more moments and explore the rest of the grounds. Squirrels and birds will follow you around, hoping for a handout, as you discover the gazebo, bell tower, fountain, old gravestones and other interesting things scattered here and there. When you are ready to visit the Mission gift shop, follow the pathways to yet another of St Augustine’s wonderful secrets!

The outer casket of Pedro Menendez de Aviles, and the Menendez portrait by Mark Menendez.

The “Menendez Room” in the Mission gift shop houses another great treasure: the outer coffin in which Pedro Menedez de Aviles was originally buried. This coffin was presented to the Mission by the city of Aviles, Spain, and is on display, along with a large diorama depicting the first mass held at the site. An extraordinary portrait of Pedro Menendez hangs in the room, above the outer coffin. The portrait was painted by one of Don Pedro’s descendants; the gifted and talented artist Mark Menendez of Andrews, North Carolina. I had the pleasure of making contact with Mark, who is a warm and delightful person. Please check out Mark’s art at Menendez Art Studio.

The Spanish Quarter Village

One of the great delights of St Augustine is the pride its residents take in their heritage and the legacy they cherish. Parts of the town have been carefully preserved to maintain the “old St Augustine” atmosphere while offering a clear look back into the past. One of the best places in St Augustine to see the past up close is at the Spanish Quarter Village.

Every time I visit The Spanish Quarter Village, I can’t help but wonder if looking into the past, we might build a better future?

A Spanish housewife chats with a neighbopr through a window.

Located along St George Street, across from the Castillo de San Marcos, the Spanish Quarter Village is a living history museum where interpreters become residents and 1740′s St Augustine is a way of life. The village resembles St Augustine near the end of the first Spanish period, and each “resident” offers a skill that provides what the village needs, just as they did over four hundred years ago.

A self-guided walk through the Spanish Quarter allows close-up glimpses into the homes of soldiers and their lives with their families. The houses in the village are reconstructed from archeological findings and research into the history of the structures that once stood along St George Street. Additional structures are built by hand, using hand tools of the period, and crafts and art such as spinning, weaving, sewing, tatting, lacemaking, carpentry, netmaking, candlemaking, woodworking, gardening, leathercrafting and blacksmithing are all done by hand at the village. Some of the clothing worn by the residents is spun, woven and sewn on site. Tools are either made or acquired as best the residents are able to find them. The Village includes many craftspeople as well as a garden and chickens, and you can often find Senora Gallegos preparing lunch in her house.

I have roamed about the Spanish Quarter village for all the years I have been roaming around St Augustine, and I have thoroughly enjoyed talking to the residents and getting an inside look at what it is really like to live in my favorite city. It’s one thing to live in St Augustine – it is an entirely different thing to live there. Many of the interpreters at the village are not “portraying” a character while they are on the timeclock – many of them actually incorporate the 1740′s Spanish lifestyle into their own daily lives. I once spoke with an interpreter there who told me she often dressed the same out of the village as she did when she came to work – she sensibly pointed out that the clothing was far cooler and more practical for her way of life.

The village blacksmith in his shop.

I have always been fascinated with the Spanish implements and tools of the day, and the construction of the Spanish houses. Visit the Casa de Gallegos; wouldn’t cooking a meal be so much more enjoyable if you could sit comfortably on a wide, low “kitchen counter” to prepare your family’s food, while a breeze wafted in through the wide, open windows, and your pet blue jay chattered at you from the top of your shutter? And how much easier would it be to keep a house with only two rooms, when you rolled up your sleeping mats and swept your floor each morning? The idea has its merits, I think.

The sense of community is strong here. It is easy to feel the bond that exists between the people who “live” here; and it clearly paints a living picture of what life in St Augustine in 1740 was really like. It was not simply a good idea to band together for a common purpose – it was crucial to the very existence of these people to band together for survival. They had only what they had; only what they could repair, make, or barter for. Money had little value, really, for if ships couldn’t come from Spain, what was there to buy? When the town had money and there were things to buy with it, times were good. And when pirates attacked, or General James Oglethorpe came up from Georgia to cause problems for St Augustine, everyone grabbed their chickens and their cow or their pig, whatever belongings they could carry, and huddled in the Castillo and hoped for the best.

But most times, soldiers could be found socializing in the tavern and housewives chatting over the fences or through the windows. When a Spanish ship was sighted in the Atlantic, great celebrations broke out, for a new load of goods was arriving and stocks and stores would be replenished. Soon a new belt would appear here or a new skirt there, new bowls and pots and pans and materials to make all manner of new and useful things, and everyone felt wealthy!

Today, many of the interpreters who work in the village will tell you that doing what they do makes them feel wealthy.

The Taberna de Gallo

The Spanish Quarter Village now opens the Taberna del Gallo (Tavern of the Rooster) to visitors on selected evenings. Visit the Taberna for a true St Augustine experience offered nowhere else – socializing in an authentic 18th-century Spanish tavern! Enjoy cool drinks; and on special evenings, live entertainment. It is great fun! You know you are in for a good time when you can hear the celebrations in the tavern a block away.

Be sure and visit the Spanish Quarter Village Museum Store. It is filled with delightful things like crafts and games for children, unique gifts, wonderful T-shirts, and household items that look as though they belong in an 18th-century Spanish home, but are beautiful and functional in any home. You can also purchase items made in the Village, such as iron hooks and nails, handmade beeswax candles, and wooden kitchen goods. The bookstore next to the Museum Store has one of the best selections of local-interest and Florida-related books in the city. I never leave St Augustine without bringing home something from The Spanish Quarter Village!

I spoke with one of the village craftsmen recently; I watched him hammering away for a few minutes, and then I asked him, “What would you be doing if you weren’t doing what you are doing right now?”

He pondered the question for a moment and then he replied, “If I couldn’t live here, I’d be doing this somewhere else!” He went on to tell me how content he is to live in St Augustine, and how he himself has incorporated so much of the Spanish Quarter lifestyle into his own life. And I told him I thought he was one of the luckiest people I know!