May 26th A Three-Fer The Mission Nombre de Dios on A1A

There were three sites at this stop:

The Mission Nobre de Dios itself, The Father Francisco de Lopez Shrine, which is on The National Register of Historic Places, and something called the Big Cross, which is well, a big cross.  

The mission turns out to be quite a complex:  There is a big church, a museum, and across a bridge, the actual reconstruction of the old mission itself, the big cross, several burial sites, and other memorials.  

The parking lot is in the upper let side, the white roof is the church and the museum, and you can see the footbridge over to the island where the mission and memorials are; you can see the shadow of the cross on the water.  

The marker for this location is out on A1A:

It reads:

Mission Nombre de Dios

Inscription. On this site, September 8, 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés landed with a band of settlers to found St. Augustine, first permanent Christian settlement in the United States. Father Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales, Spanish diocesan Priest, offered here the first Mass in the Nation's first parish. The Spanish pioneers named this landing site Nombre de Dios - Name of God - and founded here the first Mission in the United States. Erected 1963 by St. Johns County Historical Commission in cooperation with Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials. (Marker Number F-111.) Location. 29° 54.257′ N, 81° 19.041′ W. Marker is in St. Augustine, Florida, in Saint Johns County. Marker is at the intersection of North Ocean Boulevard (State Highway A1A) and Old Mission Avenue, on the right when traveling north on North Ocean Boulevard.

These signs guide you across the footbridge, which begin to tell the story:

So there you have it, St Augustine's claim to fame, that in 1565, 55 years before the Pilgrims came to Plymouth Rock, we had our own guy, Pedro Menendez.  The Spanish, who were big on religion, established lots of Missions, both here and in California, and this one is here.

On the island is a little shrine, to the Mother Mary, I believe, looks like this:

  Had a few very small pews in it, and folks lighting candles and such.... Had this plaque on the outside right front:

On out from the shrine is a walk over to what I call a two-fer, the Father Lopez Shrine and the Big Cross, both a part of the Mission.   The Father Lopez Shrine is listed on the National Register of Historic Places:  

First, the statue itself:

And then, the big cross:

The Great Cross

Inscription. This Great Cross marks the approximate site where in 1565 the Cross of Christianity was first permanently planted in what is now the United States. It is a beacon of the faith to remind all those who pass this way, by land or by sea, of the religious beginning of our Nation. The Cross was erected by the Diocese of St. Augustine as the climax of the mission's 400th anniversary observances 1965-1966 Father Lopez, first pastor described the landing and settlement here on September 8, 1565: "As I had come ashore the evening before I took a cross and went to meet (Captain General Menedez) singing the hymn 'Te Deum Laudamus'. The general, followed by all who accompanied him, marched up to the cross, knelt and kissed it. A large number of Indians watched these proceedings and imitated all they saw done."   Erected by The Diocese Of St. Augustine. Location. 29° 54.253′ N, 81° 18.814′ W. Marker is in St. Augustine, Florida, in Saint Johns County. Marker is on Ocean Ave.