What is the Mission of San Luis de Apalachee

Quietly rustling track, trees sweeping behind the windows of a car, intertwined with elegant lace of vines, palm forests. The green landscapes change with their blueness to the purest lakes, cozy backwaters and sunlit forest glades, enticing travelers to leave the road and plunge into a blissful vacation. But the journey continues further to the capital of Florida - Tallahassee . This amazing settlement is located in the northern part of the Florida Peninsula.

The first European expedition to Tallahassee was undertaken by Panfilo de Narvaez in 1528. The Indian tribes of the Appalachians met the expedition with a rebuff and only 400 settlers were able to get to Mexico City. They reported that the expedition died.

The next attempt was made only 10 years later. The expedition was led by Hernando de Soto. He managed to defeat the Appalachians and seize the land. The cruelty that he allowed in the future, when missionaries began to arrive on the earth, aroused mistrust on the part of the Indians, and they were reluctant to make contact with Europeans.

But thanks to the patience of the Franciscan monks, over time they managed to gain the confidence of the Indian tribes, and in 1656 they founded the Mission of San Luis. For one and a half thousand natives, it has become an educational center. The monks taught the indigenous people to grow beans and beans, corn and pumpkin, to pick fruits and berries. During a certain period, the Mission provided products to the Spanish city of St. Augustine, located on the shores of the Atlantic.

Over time, the Mission San Luis de Apalachee expanded and churches and administrative buildings were erected. This is the Appalachian Indians Council House — a round building with a cross at the entrance — a symbol of respect for another faith. Despite occasional disagreements, the overall coexistence of Indians and Europeans within the Mission San Luis, was peaceful.

Mission San Luis Historic Monument: past in the future

The prosperity of Mission San Luis lasted about half a century. Not having the strength to resist the onslaught of the British, in 1704 the inhabitants left the mission, destroying all the buildings.

The mission of San Luis today is a national monument of a historical nature, visiting which you can feel how its inhabitants lived in the old days in this settlement. For example, the work of a blacksmith in a restored blacksmith will cause interest. Or small gardens where they grow the same herbs and vegetables that the villagers grew in the seventeenth century. If possible, you need to visit the house, typical of the Spanish family of that time. And if you want to treat you to food prepared according to recipes 4 centuries ago.

Reconstructors restored the majestic House of Soviets of the Appalachians, which is the height of a modern five-story house, and in front of it a wooden church was recreated. Near the latter is a house in which Franciscan monks lived. By visiting it you can find out the everyday life of the missionaries of those times on the uncharted lands of northern Florida.

The past comes to life along with the restored buildings, and the objects in them make it even brighter, somewhat closer to us. And what is hidden from our eyes will be explained by historians and archaeologists.

On the territory of the old mission, the house of Messer was subsequently erected, and so there is a place behind it, which hides in itself a small clearing with indentations. Here begins the old road that the first settlers paved with the wheels of their carts, the hooves of their horses, or simply with their feet. Restorers did not touch anything here and therefore, if you listen a little, you can hear steps tired travelers. And if you take a closer look, then a cowboy or a lonely monk will walk past you slowly.

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