Will we see you in the park this summer? 🏰
🕘 We open at 9:00 AM! The last chance to enter is 5:00 PM, with the fort closing at 5:15 PM daily. Admission is valid for 7 consecutive days; be sure to hold on to your receipt and the card you paid with for re-entry.
🎟️ Do you have an America the Beautiful Pass? These passes will get the passholder and 3 additional people into the fort for free! Otherwise, the cost of admission is $15 for ages 16 and up. Those aged 15 and below are free.
💧 Bring a water bottle! Only water is permitted inside the fort, other beverages and food are not allowed inside. We have bottle filling stations and water fountains available inside for your use.
💥 You're looking for cannons? We have cannon demonstrations on Saturdays and Sundays. These events are weather and staff permitting.
🛑 Expect a wait to get inside! There may be a line at the fee booth when you first arrive.
🐕 Leashed pets are welcome on the grounds outside of the fort, but they are not allowed inside. Only service animals are permitted.
👉 We look forward to seeing you at Castillo de San Marcos National Monument! Visit our website for more information: www.nps.gov/CASA
Image: Reenactors sporting military uniforms through history inside a stone fort.
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Hey, Teachers! 👋 It may be summer break, but it is not too early to think about your field trip to our park next year! 🏰 There are two options available:
1. Hire One of Our Partners
Many local guide services have agreements in place with the National Park Service to offer guided field trips that are curriculum-based! Visit our website to see the full list of companies: https://www.nps.gov/.../education/classrooms/fieldtrips.htm
2. Be Your Own Guide
Vising as a Teacher-led group means your students will tour the fort under your supervision, instead of exploring with local tour guides. If you choose this option, you must make a reservation on www.Recreation.gov, apply for an Academic Fee Waiver, and review our online park resources for pre and post lesson plans.
Academic groups may make reservations up to 1 year in advance! The maximum capacity for each school group tour is 38 total people, and each one-hour tour consists of 30 minutes around the exterior and 30 minutes exploring the interior.
👉 Still have questions? Visit these links:
🔗 Explore your options on our website: https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/education/classrooms/fieldtrips.htm
🔗 Review our curriculum materials: https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/education/classrooms/curriculummaterials.htm
🔗 Get familiar with Recreation.gov: https://www.recreation.gov/ticket/facility/10088440
We can give you a hand and answer your questions! Email us: [email protected]
Image: Text says, "Explore your options at www.nps.gov/CASA" and "Planning a field trip?" Background is a coastal stone fort on a partly cloudy day.
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Get to know our passes! 👇
🎟️ Standard Entry - $15.00 for those aged 16 and above. Keep your receipt and the card you paid with! This admission is valid for 7 consecutive days. Kids ages 15 and under are free!
🎟️ Castillo de San Marcos Annual Pass - $45.00 and is only valid at Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. Allows one passholder and three additional adults to enter for free! This pass is valid for 12 months.
🎟️ America the Beautiful Annual Pass - $80.00 and waives entry fees and standard amenity (day-use) fees at lands managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers! This pass is valid for 12 months.
🎟️ America the Beautiful Military Annual Pass - FREE and available to Current U.S. Military members and dependents (documentation required). It waives entry fees and standard amenity (day-use) fees at lands managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers! This pass is valid for 12 months.
🎟️ America the Beautiful Military Lifetime Pass - FREE and available to Veterans and Gold Star Families (documentation required). It waives entry fees and standard amenity (day-use) fees at lands managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers! This pass is valid for life.
🎟️ America the Beautiful Senior Annual Pass - $20.00 and waives entry fees and standard amenity (day-use) fees at lands managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers! This pass is valid for 12 months.
👉 Do you know if you qualify for a FREE annual or lifetime America the Beautiful Pass? Check our website to find out: www.nps.gov/CASA
Image: America the Beautiful Passes in front of a stone fort at sunrise.
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Did you know that Fort Marion National Monument was used by the Coast Guard during World War II for training?
These photos are from the second graduation exercises of the U.S. Coast Guard Officers Indoctrination School on January 3, 1944.
👉 To learn more about Florida during World War II, please visit: https://go.nps.gov/1hddm4
Image 1: Three men in uniform in front of a stone wall.
Image 2: Men in uniform lined up on top of the stone fort.
Image 3: Men in uniform on top of a stone fort with civilians looking on.
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“When the thunder rolls and the lightning strikes…” -Garth Brooks
…you should seek shelter indoors, obviously. When lightning is close by, we close the top of the fort for your safety. Even the cannon demonstrations on the weekends are weather dependent. Remember- when thunder roars, go indoors!
Image: Sentry tower overlooking a bay on a stormy day.
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The Castillo de San Marcos has never been defeated, only transferred by treaty and receipt. It was held by the Spanish, British, United States, and the Confederacy.
👉 For more information about the different periods in Florida, please visit: https://go.nps.gov/bze4lx.
Image: View of the Matanzas River from the top of the Castillo de San Marcos.
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Will you be in town for the @staugustinehistoryfestival ? Join us on May 9th and 10th to experience the fort in 1776!
Saint Augustine was controlled by the British during the American Revolution. Meet members of His Majesty’s 60th Regiment of Foot and the British Royal Navy and experience historic weapons demonstrations at 10:30 AM, 11:30 AM, 1:30 PM, 2:30 PM and 3:30 PM. Regular admission applies.
We look forward to seeing you in the park!
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As a result of the treaties that ended the American Revolutionary War, the British colonies of East and West Florida were returned to Spain in 1784.
This Second Spanish Period, which lasted until 1821, was fraught with conspiracies, unrest, and rebellions, generally planned by individuals or small groups. Times were tumultuous, and there was little certainty the territory would not change hands once again. To learn more about the Second Spanish Period, please visit: https://go.nps.gov/157ztr
Image: Portrait of William Augustus Bowles.
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Did you hear? It’s Jenkins’ Ear Day.
In March 1738, Captain Robert Jenkins was summoned before a committee of the House of Commons, where he exhibited his severed ear, preserved in a jar, and claimed it was "cut off in April 1731 in the West Indies by Spanish coast guards who had boarded his ship, pillaged it and then set it adrift." According to Jenkins, the Spanish coast guard sloop San Antonio intercepted him near Havana and claimed he was violating the trade laws. Jenkins supposedly insulted the Spanish captain, Juan de Leon Fandino, for which Fandino used his sword to cut off one of Jenkins’ ears, declaring, "Were the King of England here and also in violation of the laws, I would do the same for him!"
Regardless of the truth of the story, Britain seized the opportunity to pick a fight with Spain. This conflict soon grew into a major global conflict with battles in the Americas, India, Europe, and on virtually every ocean of the world.
👉 To learn more about the War of Jenkins’ Ear and the Siege of 1740, please visit: https://go.nps.gov/1ojq6n
Image: Painting of Spanish soldiers on the Castillo de San Marcos with British ships in the distance.
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Let's talk PHYSICS! 💥 Not all cannon fire travels the same way.
At Castillo de San Marcos, understanding these trajectories, and how force and motion work, was critical to both attack and defense. Even the fort's coquina walls helped absorb the energy of impact.
This diagram shows how different weapons, like mortars, howitzers, and cannons, launch projectiles along very different paths. Some arc high through the air, while others fire in a more direct line.
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At about 4 o'clock on Sunday, October 2, 1672, Governor Manuel Cendoya walked to a likely looking spot between the strings marking out the lines of the new fortification. He thrust a spade into the earth, and thus broke ground for the Castillo de San Marcos, the stone fort which would replace the succession of smaller wooden forts and would guard the settlement of San Agustín and hold the colony of La Florida for Spain.
👉 To learn more about the construction of the Castillo de San Marcos, please visit: https://go.nps.gov/d79ps0
Image: The courtyard of the Castillo de San Marcos in low lighting.
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Storage has been one of the most important functions of the Castillo throughout its long history. During the first Spanish period, rooms of the west wall were all used for food storage. Three of these rooms were used for rice storage alone! They would also store dry beans, parched corn, flour, cornmeal, dried & salted meat, as well as dried & pickled fruits and vegetables.
These items could last a long time. Not only did they have to store enough food to feed soldiers, but the whole town if they needed to! When you visit the Castillo de San Marcos today, you will find one of these rooms on the west wall still set up as storage for food and equipment, which is pictured here.
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