Fort Matanzas in St Augustine, Florida: A Sight for Locals and Tourists Alike

The name Fort Matanzas means the slaughter. So who would want to visit a historical site named "slaughter" and where did the fort get its name from? It has its roots in Spanish history. Read on to find out.

Fort Matanzas is a historical and tourist site located near St Augustine, Florida. The fort is only accessible from the docks in the St Augustine bay and can only be accessed via a ferry ride across the bay to the other side. As such, many times visitors to St Augustine are not aware of the fort and its historical value.

In 1565 , soon after the Spanish had set up camps in Ft. Caroline in nearby Jacksonville, they ventured south to St. Augustine. The local Seminole Indians advised the Spaniards that there were other white men on the beach on the other side of the bay near the inlet. Upon arriving at the other side, the Spaniards encountered the French. A battle ensued for the land, as the Spanish had visited St Augustine earlier and had taken it for their king. The leader of the Spanish army, Menendez, ordered his army to capture and kill the French. Anyone claiming to be Catholic or those that had a valuable skill, were left alive. More than 250 French men were killed on the spot. From that time on, the area was known as Matanzas, or the Spanish word for slaughter. However the Spanish did not build a fort at that time.

Many years later in the 1700's, St. Augustine was attacked by British forces on two separate occasions. The Spanish realized that their one fort in St Augustine, the Castillo de San Marco, was not sufficient to protect the area, so they built a fort at the area they called Matanzas in 1740. The fort then served to protect Spanish St. Augustine from further attacks.