St. Augustine turns 446.

[Manuell Alvarez]

Hola Amigos,

The city of St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city founded in America by Don Pedro Menendez, of Aviles, in 1565, will celebrate its 446 years of existence on Septembert 8, 2011.

There will be a reenactment of Don Pedro's landing and claiming of that area of Florida for Spain and the founding of the city. There are other activities which are important; however, the fact that Don Pedro Menendez was an Asturian is extremely important to those of us who share the same heritage.

Most, if not all, the accompanying 600 sailors and soldiers were probably from Asturias.

Tu Amigo,

Manny

[Art]

Manny, do you know which port in Spain the ships left from?

I think that most of the visible architectural influences come from later in St. Augustine's history and thus are more Andalusian.

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¿Manny, sabes de cuál puerto en España salio la expedición?

Creo que la mayoría de las influencias visibles en la arquitectura vienen de más tarde en la historia de San Agustín y por lo tanto son más andaluz.

[Manuell Alvarez]

Art,

In looking at a map of Asturias, the port of Gijon looks very close to Aviles and a very possible place to mount such an expedition. I did not know about the architecture. It would be a great legacy if some of us could trace our family history to those early explorers and founders.

Rebecca, Alexander, and I toured the city in 1977, from our car after suffering severe sunburn on Cocca Beach, and afterwards, we drove home caked in Noxema. It is a shame because we were looking forward to spending some time there appreciating the history of this Spanish city. In 1981, we ran out of time exploring other parts of florida, and did not get around to a return visit.

Manny

[Art]

Avilés and Gijón are close, but Avilés is a port city, too, and even has an interesting history of naval ingenuity in battle with the Arabs in Seville in 1248:
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtop ... =8265#8265

There is sufficient information about the voyages of Pedro Menéndez, so there's no need to imagine all of the details. There are books on his life.

These messages mention Menéndez:
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1103 (Asturian immigration)
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=337 (books)
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8105 (descendents)
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2572 (y Pedro de Valdés)
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3643 (St. Augustine, FL)
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=167 (Pedro Menéndez Day in St. Augustine)
There are many more threads that mention him.

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Avilés y Gijón están cercanas, pero Avilés es una ciudad portuaria, también, e incluso tiene una interesante historia de ingenio en una batalla naval contra los árabes en Sevilla en 1248:
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtop ... =8265#8265

Hay suficiente información acerca de los viajes de Pedro Menéndez, así que no hay que imaginar todos los detalles. Hay libros sobre su vida.

Estos mensajes de mencionar Menéndez:
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1103 (la inmigración asturiana)
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=337 (libros)
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8105 (descendentes)
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2572 (y Pedro de Valdés)
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3643 (San Agustín, FL)
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=167 (Día de Pedro Menéndez en San Agustín)
Hay muchos más temas que le mencionan.

[Manuell Alvarez]

Art,

I did not know that Aviles was a sea port. My road atlas of Europe is not that accurate or detailed. Thank you for all those links that you referenced, I appreciate learning about our Spanish history.

Manny