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 Plaza de la Constitucion - St. Augustine, FL Posted by:  Rayman
N 29° 53.550 W 081° 18.737
17R E 469848 N 3306914
The Plaza de la Constitucion is a large public area in the center of the St. Augustine historical district.
Waymark Code: WM5WZC
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 02/22/2009
Views: 22
From Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State:
The PLAZA DE LA CONSTITUCION (Place of the Constitution), Cathedral St. between Charlotte and St. George Sts., and extending to King St., is a landscaped parkway in the center of the town. It is named for the shaft erected in 1813 to commemorate the adoption in Spain of a liberal constitution. When in the next year Ferdinand VII was recalled to the throne of Spain he violated his pledge to abide by the new document, declared it null and void, and ordered the removal of monuments raised to it. However, the monument still stands in St. Augustine. The translated inscription on the base reads:
Place of the Constitution. Promulgated in this city of Saint Augustine of East Florida on the 17th of October, 1812, the Brigadier Don Sebastian Kindalem, Knight of the Order of Saint James, being the Governor.
For eternal memory. The municipal Government erected this monument under the supervision of Don Fernando de la Plza Arredondo the young senior Alderman and Don Francisco Robira.
Don Fernando's full name was Don Fernando de la Maza Arredondo, but tradition has it he was so active in trying to get the monument set up in the Plaza, that the Spanish jokingly called him 'Don Fernando de la Plaza.' The name on the monument, 'Don Fernando de la Plza,' is chiseled in such a manner that some think the sculptor started to inscribe the nickname, then thought better of it.
At the east end of the Plaza is the SLAVE MARKET, an open, shedlike structure built in 1824 to replace the original market on this site which dated back to 1598, and was used for public auctioning of provisions and slaves. The present structure, with its low gabled roof, square cupola, and simple square columns, is provided with tables for checkers, chess, and dominoes.
Today, many of the newer buildings surrounding the plaza are very touristy, housing a variety of shops and restaurants. The monument still stands, along with a Confederate States Civil War monument and a gazebo. The public market is also still located at the east end of the plaza, but is no longer used. Unfortunately it also seems the plaza is the 'home' to many homeless people as there were several taking a nap throughout the area during my visit.
Book: Florida
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 254
Year Originally Published: 1939
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