Fort Matanzas National Monument was built in 1742 to defend Spanish St. Augustine from the British, nearly 300 years ago.

Fort Matanzas has a very long & interesting history, closely connected with the founding of St. Augustine by Pedro Menendez de Aviles. In 1565, Menendez murdered over 250 French Protestants including the famed Jean Ribault, on the land where the Fort is today. Due to the history of the site, the Spanish named both the fort and the inlet "Matanzas," which means "slaughters" in English. That name carries on to this day.

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