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The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine is a historic cathedral in St. Augustine, Florida, and the seat of the Catholic Bishop of St. Augustine. It is located at Cathedral Street between Charlotte and St. George Streets. Constructed over five years (1793–1797),〔〔 it was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark on April 15, 1970. Originally established in 1565 and re-built in the 18th century, it is the oldest church in Florida. ==History== During the mid-1560s, the Spanish Empire expanded from its Caribbean strongholds northward, to what is Florida today. The first colony which was founded and remained continuously occupied was St. Augustine. Spanish settlers began immediately to establish a Catholic church. The Roman Catholic Church was integral to the Spanish monarchy and to Spain's history. In fact, from the mid-1500s to the mid-1600s, the kingdom was in the midst of a Catholic Revival, in opposition to the Protestant Reformation. The settlement's cathedral was completed rapidly. However, given that the early colonists were mostly sailors or soldiers and had little experience in architecture, the first Cathedral of St. Augustine was very simple, with an variety of materials and overall hurried confusion about the building. As the English would have it, the original parish would be short-lived. In 1586, an attack on St. Augustine led by Sir Francis Drake resulted in the cathedral burning down.〔 〕 As determinedly as they had done two decades previously, the colonists began rebuilding the cathedral and completed the second construction in a matter of months. Once again though, the cathedral was rather poorly constructed out of primarily straw and palmetto, which proved to be a very non-durable and temporary material in such a humid climate. Regardless of construction quality of the second structure, history would repeat itself in 1599; because the second cathedral suffered the same fate of burning, except this time the fire was due to natural conditions. Shortly after news of the second cathedral’s demise reached Spain, a tithe was placed for several years; and in 1605, the third attempt was made to construct the church. By this time, more experienced architects and builders from Europe had begun to make their way to the New World, and the third cathedral was built with permanence in mind. It was constructed from timber, and it would stay intact for the next 95 years. Some years after the timber cathedral had been completed, the church began to deteriorate due to lack of maintenance, climatic conditions, and severe fluctuation in the congregation's size. Consequently, in 1702 when the church was again burned down, during a failed English effort to take over the city led by South Carolina colonist James Moore, the cathedral would vanish from the town for over ninety years. Undoubtedly, there were attempts throughout to rebuild, the most notable in 1707. The King had sent a large sum of money for the cathedral to be rebuilt. The funds never made it to the cathedral because the colony was in poor shape; the money was spent on goods, back pay for soldiers, and public officials taking a cut. (A similar misappropriation of funds had occurred in almost the same manner about a century earlier.) During the first half of the 18th century, priests held mass in what was a portion of St. Augustine's hospital. This became detrimental to the size and morale of the congregation, as well as to the relations with Native Americans, many of whom had converted to Catholicism. From 1763 to 1784, Florida fell under British rule, and concern for reconstruction dwindled into nonexistence. However, only two years after Spain regained control of the colony, a new sense of pride was instilled in the citizenry and a plan for a grand Cathedral was put into motion. As planned, in 1793 the beginnings of the Cathedral of St. Augustine as we know it today were created, and this rendition of the project, being the longest-running in the parish’s history, finally reached completion in August 1797. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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