The Castillo de San Luis

An Apalachee potter interacts with children during an educational camp at Mission San Luis.
Children walk in front of the reconstructed Apalachee council house during a school tour.
An interior view of the Apalachee council house, the largest known historic period Indian building in the Southeast.
Mission San Luis has an ongoing archaeological research program and is the most thoroughly investigated mission in the Southeast.
Living history interpreters visit outside the reconstructed 17th century Franciscan church.
An interior view of the 17th century Franciscan church.

Unforgettable Experiences in an Extraordinary Place

Reconstructing Mission San Luis

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El Castillo de San Luis

Mapping the SW bastion and palisade wall.
Profile of the dry moat surrounding the fort.
South wall of the block house.

The final and largest blockhouse at Mission San Luis was completed in 1697. A palisade and moat were added in 1702 in response to British incursions into Spanish Florida. The 70 ft by 40 ft blockhouse probably garrisoned about 45 soldiers near the end of the mission era. There was evidence of internal rooms within the blockhouse and a probable stairway leading to a second story, reflecting the "high and low quarters" mentioned in historic documents.