Ruins of 300-year-old church found in US
June 4th, 2011 - 12:49 pm ICT by IANSMiami, June 4 (IANS/EFE) A team of archaeologists from the University of Florida have discovered in St. Augustine the ruins of a church more than 300 years old that belonged to a mission of the Spanish colonial period.
The archaeologists believe it could be the oldest stone building of Spain’s colonial period and one of the largest mission churches built during that time in Florida.
Researchers from the Florida Museum of Natural History, located on the UF campus in Gainesville, discovered coquina stones and foundations indicating a structure some 27 meters long by 12 meters high, which would be “the only mission church made of stone”, the university said in a communique.
The ruins were found at the place where the first Franciscan mission was built in Florida, called Nombre de Dios (Name of God), which remained active from 1587 until 1760.
“This is a truly exciting rediscovery of a long-lost building,” said Kathleen Deagan, a distinguished research curator emeritus of historical archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
St. Augustine is the oldest city in the US and it is possible that the ruins are from a church commissioned by the Spanish colonial governor of Florida in 1677, Deagan said.
Under the direction of the Catholic diocese of St. Augustine, the church was built in honour of Nuestra Senora de La Leche and Buen Parto (Our Lady of the Milk and Safe Delivery), and was erected in the 1650s.
After an English attack destroyed the church in 1728, the ruins were gradually buried and the place forgotten.
–IANS/EFE
rd
- Oldest American city turns 445 - Sep 02, 2010
- Spanish treasure found off Florida - Mar 29, 2011
- Florida prepares to mark 500th anniversary of its discovery - Aug 19, 2011
- Firm asks US court to block handover of treasure to Spain - Feb 07, 2012
- Ring worth $500,000 recovered from sunken ship - Jun 26, 2011
- Priest hacked to death in Colombia - Sep 14, 2011
- Treasure hunters eye underwater cultural heritage in Mexico - Feb 03, 2011
- Spanish treasure lands after 200 years - Feb 27, 2012
- 1,200-year-old royal tomb found in Peru - Jan 20, 2011
- US firm appeals against $500 mn Spanish treasure handover - Jan 22, 2010
- 2,800-year-old monument found in Mexico - Jul 27, 2011
- Mexicans find millennium-old game board - Feb 24, 2012
- Lost Language Rediscoverd In Peru - Sep 26, 2010
- Spanish artists to be focus of US art fair - Mar 28, 2011
- Oldest-known Mayan calendar found - May 11, 2012
Tags: 1650s, catholic diocese, colonial governor, curator emeritus, distinguished research, florida museum of natural history, florida researchers, franciscan mission, governor of florida, historical archaeology, kathleen deagan, mission churches, museum of natural history, name of god, rediscovery, safe delivery, spanish colonial period, time in florida, uf campus, university of florida