#: locale=en
## Tour
### Description
tour.description = Virtual tour of the hotshot furnace and seawall at Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, Florida.
### Title
tour.name = Castillo Hotshot and Seawall
## Skin
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HTMLText_577DFA72_7FE0_722A_41DE_E12351F351A7.html = Medici Marble Lion
One of a pair of copies of the Carrara marble Medici lions, these lions guard the bridge that connects St. Augustine, Florida to Anastasia Island along historic A1A in Florida. The lions were made by Romanelli Studios in Florence, Italy. Other copies of these lions include the famous ones displayed in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace of Madrid. The Bridge of Lions is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) fragile, added to the 1997 “11 Most Endangered Sites” list.
The Medici lion statues were copies of the statues at Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence, Italy, and were gifted to the town by resident, Dr. Andrew Anderson, who also built and lived at the National Register historic mansion, Markland House, now owned by Flagler College. In the later years of Anderson’s life, he installed a number of works of art in public places. The lions were his last artwork gift to St. Augustine, and he had smaller versions made for his home.
Spanish Bronze Cannon
Bronze cannon at the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine, Florida, laser scanned with Artec Spider. This beautifully designed cannon is covered in a rich green patina. Bronze was preferred because it could withstand the stress of firing better than other materials. In coastal Florida, an added benefit is that bronze can withstand dampness and is non-rusting with nearly two times the life expectancy of an iron cannon. Less metal material is required to make a weapon, and bronze could be melted down and recast into a new weapon, as needed. This cannon can be found on display in the courtyear area. the cannon is an 18-pounder bronze weapon from Seville. It dates to 1764, and is named El Milanes (The one from Milan). The piece is on loan to the Castiilo since 1971.
Castillo
de San Marcos
Historic Seawall
This is a portion of the historic seawall at the Castillo de San Marcos (aka Fort Marion). The view is to show the seawall that fronts the fortification, with the model shown as a plan view section. The full height of the fort is not shown in this section, with the fort wall provided to show location in relation to the seawall and water battery locations.
Hot Shot Furnace
The hot shot furnace is part of a water battery, built between 1835 and 1844, located on the east side of the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine, Florida. This furnace would have been stoked by a team of soldiers preparing cannonballs as “hot shot” that would be used to fire at incoming wooden ships. The shot was ready after about 30 minutes of heating in a coal bed. Metal tongs were required to remove the shot and prepare it for firing from the cannon and artillery stationed nearby along the fort’s seawall.
Although not a technique that was battle proven at the Castillo, soldiers did routinely drill for the possibility of using hotshot to fend off invaders. This technology went out of vogue when ironclad ships came into use and made these type of furnaces obsolete. Background image is courtesy National Park Service, c. 1939 from the publication: Hot Shot Furnaces (pg. 6).
Hot Shot Furnace
The hot shot furnace is part of a water battery, built between 1835 and 1844, located on the east side of the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine, Florida. This furnace would have been stoked by a team of soldiers preparing cannonballs as “hot shot” that would be used to fire at incoming wooden ships. The shot was ready after about 30 minutes of heating in a coal bed. Metal tongs were required to remove the shot and prepare it for firing from the cannon and artillery stationed nearby along the fort’s seawall.
Although not a technique that was battle proven at the Castillo, soldiers did routinely drill for the possibility of using hotshot to fend off invaders. This technology went out of vogue when ironclad ships came into use and made these type of furnaces obsolete. Background image is courtesy National Park Service, c. 1939 from the publication: Hot Shot Furnaces (pg. 6).