Pedro Menendez de Aviles Coffin (Photo credit: cliff1066™)
Exciting news has been released by the St Augustine Record this week! The headboard from the casket of our city’s founder Pedro Menendez de Aviles‘ will soon return! The headboard was placed on the casket when Menendez was buried in Spain in 1574. His remains were taken from the casket and re-buried in a tomb at San Nicholas Catholic Church in Aviles, Spain in 1924. Both of these historic artifacts were gifted to St Augustine from our sister city the same year.
According to the Diocese of St Augustine, “These are the only tangible artifacts related to Menendez outside of Spain”. Both were given to the Mission Nombre de Dios in 1940 by the city of St Augustine for display. After reaching 438 years old, the headboard was badly in need of repairs and sent to an art restoration studio in Miami. Finally, the historic artifact will be returned to St Augustine just in time for the 447th Founder’s Day Celebration on September 8th at the Mission Grounds. On this day the establishment of Christianity in the U.S. will also be recognized.
St. Augustine, Florida: Mission Nombre de Dios site. Approximate location of where Pedro Menéndez de Avilés landed in 1565, after which he founded St. Augustine. The 208 foot cross commemorates where the first Catholic Mass in North America was conducted. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Founder’s Day Celebration takes place at the Mission Nombre de Dios at 10am on the 8th and entirely free to the public. The St Augustine Heritage Event will feature a historical reenactment of Admiral Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles’ landing in the year 1565 by La Campania de Santiago/The Company of St James, a member unit of Florida Living History, Inc. followed by a city proclamation read by Mayor Joseph Boles.
A mass of Thanksgiving will also be held and celebrated by Bishop Felipe J. Estevez, Bishop of St Augustine and a grand procession will follow. In addition, the event will feature a lecture on the founding of the oldest city by Dr. Timothy J. Johnson, Chairman of the Department of Humanities at Flagler College. The headboard will be taken to the Mission Nombre de Dios for permanent exhibition following these events.
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