When it is first mined, it is very soft, so soft, that you can’t build with it. It needs to allowed to dry and harden for several years. Once it reaches the proper hardness it is great for building.
In St Augustine, the Spanish built 6 different forts out of wood, each succumbing to rot or fire.
Once they built with coquina they were never taken over and held off all invaders,during the time of cannonball warfare. The balls would either bounce off or become lodged in the stone.
He led a group of Greek Orthodox refugees from New Smyrna,where their colony was failing,60 miles up the cost to St.Augustine,where they found refuge in the Then British controlled,St Augustine.
This statue is outside the Basilica of St Augustine.
It is a very nice Cathedral that has undergone several rebuildings.
The latest occurred in 1887.There was a huge hotel next door to,the Cathedral.There is a fire in the hotel,that spreads through a third of the city.the roof of the Cathedral collapses.The walls stay intact because,wait for it………
They were built of Coquina of course.
The next day the bishop is looking at the collapsed roof and mess before him,when a guy walks up, puts his arm around his shoulders and says I’ve got two things for you,first is a donation to help with the rebuilding, the second. Is , a friend of mine who is visiting from. New York City,James Renwick. He was just completing St Patrick’s Cathedral In NY city, He had built the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC.
The guy who put his arm around the bishop was named Flagler,a co founder of a standard Oil with Rockefeller. I could write for days about him alone.
I took a 1.5 hr tour of the Cathedral with a very well informed guide named Pat. She integrated the building with the city’s history, the Catholic beliefs,the iconography of the decorative elements of the church along with the personalities of the major players.
I thought she did so in an ecumenical way.I was glad that we didn’t get clobbered by Catholic theological beliefs.it as a tour well worth taking.
The different color wood is not different types of wood.This is one solid panel.The shading and depth of color is brought about by the staining method used. Not a good picture,but you get the idea.
Up close you can see the pencil marks to outline where the stain was applied. Just jaw dropping!
In 2005 they celebrated the 500 anniversary of this congregation. Ponce De Leon the first Europeon to find Florida. As a gift to this congregation,the people of his home town in Spain, had this baptismal font sculpted from stone quarried in Ponce’s home town and sent it over.
May we all have such considerate and gracious events be part of our lives, either by receiving or giving.
Paul
Pau's Travels 