Fort Matanzas

The construction of Fort Matanzas began in 1740, immediately after a siege of Castillo de San Marcos by James Oglethorpe demonstrated the vulnerability of supply lines via the Matanzas River. Built with labor from Cuba on Rattlesnake Island, the fortress was completed in 1742. Its primary task was to monitor the river mouth and access from the sea. The name “Matanzas” derives from a massacre that occurred in 1565, when Spanish settlers under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés executed 250 French Huguenots. Shortly before its completion in 1742, the still-under-construction fort repelled another British advance under Oglethorpe, who attempted to penetrate inland with twelve ships – the only military engagement in the fort's history. After the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the Spanish lost interest in the facility, which subsequently fell into disrepair. When the United States acquired Florida, the fort was in a dilapidated state. Restoration began in 1916, and in 1924, it was declared a National Monument. Since 1933, it has been managed by the National Park Service and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1966.

Fort Matanzas is located in St. Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida, USA, at an elevation of approximately 4 meters above sea level.

Fort Matanzas can be visited today. Visitors reach the island by a ferry that operates regularly.

• Castillo de San Marcos (Fortress), approx. 21.4 km away
• Fort Caroline (Fortress), approx. 78.6 km away
• Fort Frederica (Fortress), approx. 167.9 km away
• Fort King George (Fortress), approx. 183.5 km away