Mission San Luis de Apalachee

Step back into the early days of Florida's settling by Europeans by visiting Mission San Luis de Apalachee, a Spanish Franciscan mission dating back to 1633.

Although the actual mission was destroyed in 1704 to prevent being taken over by an invading British militia from South Carolina, it has been painstakingly rebuilt to resemble how the mission actually looked and function in the 17th century.

Located two miles west of the Florida Capitol Building, Mission San Luis de Apalachee was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The mission was a key part of the Spanish empire's effort to colonize Florida -- and convert local American Indian tribes, including the Timucuan and the Apalachee, to Christianity.

The Apalachee dominated the Florida Panhandle area, in what was then known as the Apalachee Province. The mission became a waypoint from the Panhandle to the Spanish power center in St. Augustine.

Florida had more than 100 Spanish missions, none of them still standing. Mission San Luis de Apalachee is the only one that has been reconstructed. Beginning in 1996, architects designed the recreated mission using archeological and historical evidence to approximate how the buildings would originally have been built.

The reconstructed buildings include the main Church, the Council House where American Indians met, the Chief's House, the Convento, a Spanish House, the Blockhouse and the Fort. They were laid out according to the best historical data of how Spanish missions of that area were arranged.

The Council House and Church dominate the mission, the two largest buildings each representing the dual Spanish/Apalachee nature of the Mission.

The Council House is 125 feet wide and five stories tall, and commands a hilltop overlooking the modern-day capital. The Council House was the focus of daily life among the Apalachee people, and the center of political and ceremoniial events. Holding up to 3,000 people, it was used to prepare for war, ceremonial dances -- even to display the scalps of vanquished enemies.

The Church is of European design, a 100-by-50 foot plank and thatch building that was the centerpiece of religious life at the mission. Apalachee and Spaniards alike joined together for Sunday mass services, evening prayers, choir performances, marriages, funerals and baptisms. The Church still hosts occasional services.

There are also numerous artifacts, both from the Apalachee Indians and Spanish colonial origins. San Luis is considered to be the most researched mission in the Southeast U.S.

Today the mission is part living history museum, interactive exhibit and ongoing archaeological demonstration. In addition to regular displays, San Luis offers special events year-round, workshops for adults and educational day camps for children.

Mission San Luis de Apalachee won a $1 million grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to create an endowment for the mission -- one of only six projects in the nation to receive the award. The site is administered by the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research.
 

mission san luis de apalachee native american indian florida history tallahassee colonialism spanish franciscan