Mission San Luis de Apalachee
Mission San Luis de Apalachee is a reconstruction of a 17th century Spanish Mission right in the middle of Tallahassee, Florida.
Sightseer Shannon said:
I worked as an archaeological tech out there a few years ago. The thing that looks like a giant anthill is actually a cone-shaped structure called the Council House. It would have been the traditional Apalachee meeting place where village business would be conducted and visitor would sleep. The smaller cone is the Chief’s House, but, as I understand, it was torn down not too long ago.
Why bother with a re-creation when you can see the real thing?
Mission San Juan Capistrano:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
MSJC’s home page:
http://www.missionsjc.com/
They bother with reconstructions because:
1. This is a very wet environment. The materials used to make these buildings in the 16th and 17th centuries - palmetto thatch and wood - would not have taken very long to decompose in this environment. As I understand it, the missions in the SW (which were built at least a hundred years after those built in Florida) were constructed of stronger material, like adobe. Even if they’d used the same materials, it is much drier in the SW and just about anything can be pretty well preserved out there.
2. Mission San Luis de Apalachee didn’t last very long, only about 50 years or so. The British and their allies with the Creek Indians began to raid the Spanish missions in Florida beginning in the 1680s. On July 29, 1704, the inhabitants of Mission San Luis burned all the structures and evacuated to St. Augustine, Mobile, and New Orleans.