St Augustine, Florida, was founded in 1565 by the Spanish Empire, and is the oldest continually inhabited city in the United States founded by Europeans. Following a raid on the settlement by English buccaneers in the mid-17th Century, a large star fort was built to bolster defences. Finished in 1695,
Castillo de San Marcos is both the oldest and largest masonry fort in the US. The stronghold stood up to two major attacks by the English, but its ownership later changed hands a number of times due to treaties and land exchanges between the British, Spanish and US governments.
