DOI Heft:
Nr. 336 (May 1925)
DOI Artikel:Robie, Virginia: A Spanish city in Florida
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19985#0107
mceRHACionAL
MAIN ARCH OF GRANADA ENTRANCE, CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA DENMAN FINK, ARCHITECT
A SPANISH GITY IN FLORIDA
Cr/I^KEN on Easter Sun- The S'panlsh tradition which the interests of truth it must
\Y/ day, i 5 i 3 , J u a n [s Inseparable from Florida hc recorded that French re-
Ponce de Leon sight- has inspired the architecture ^Iiatzon was almost as cruel
ing land, unfurled the flag of r n I Cnhlp ampa y 1S associated
Castile in the name of King V ^ ■ with tIle intrepid adven-
Ferdinand, the romance of VIRGINIA *R 0 B I E turer> Hernando De Sota,
SpainwaspIantedin'FIorida. and the IoveIy IittIe citY of
When in 1565, Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Sarasota with his daughter, Sara, whose mournful
raising the colors in the name of Philip II, founded fate is perpetuated in a moss-grown legend,
the settlement of St. Augustine, romance took Spain loosened her grasp on Florida in 1763,
deep root. With Menendez came men of rank, regained it twenty years later and lost it forever
priests, monks, soldiers and retainers, numbering in 1821. In 1763 Florida was ceded to England
more than fifteen hundred and filling many ships, in exchange for Cuba, in 1783 ceded back to
It was a brilliant company, and such as six- Spain, in 182r, purchased by the United States
teenth-century Spain alone could send forth into for the sum of five million dollars, a new page
a wilderness. turned in its history. Yet Spain has never been
A red and yellow thread of exploration lies really absent from Florida; politically yes, but not
over the entire peninsula of Florida. We find the in color and atmosphere, and not architecturally,
strands sometimes tangled, sometimes almost lost, St. Augustine's narrow streets, overhanging bal-
but invariably picturesque; often marked by conies and walled gardens still speak of old Spain,
cruelty but touched with high romance. With the as in a lesser way do the ruins of New Smyrna on
sword in one hand and the cross in the other, the Indian River. But nowhere in Florida is the
Spain made this vast country her own. The Spanish illusion more perfect than at Coral Gables,
Indian, at first friendly, then hostile, fled before the newly developed suburb of Miami. It is not
the conqueror. The French explorer made heroic only the romance of Spain but the romance of
stand. The tragedy and pathos of the Huguenot American fortunes and American genius,
massacres form one of the dark chapters of In telling the story of Coral Gables it is difficult
Florida's history. Yet in justice to Spain and in to know where to begin; whether to sketch the
MAY 1925
one hundred seven
MAIN ARCH OF GRANADA ENTRANCE, CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA DENMAN FINK, ARCHITECT
A SPANISH GITY IN FLORIDA
Cr/I^KEN on Easter Sun- The S'panlsh tradition which the interests of truth it must
\Y/ day, i 5 i 3 , J u a n [s Inseparable from Florida hc recorded that French re-
Ponce de Leon sight- has inspired the architecture ^Iiatzon was almost as cruel
ing land, unfurled the flag of r n I Cnhlp ampa y 1S associated
Castile in the name of King V ^ ■ with tIle intrepid adven-
Ferdinand, the romance of VIRGINIA *R 0 B I E turer> Hernando De Sota,
SpainwaspIantedin'FIorida. and the IoveIy IittIe citY of
When in 1565, Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Sarasota with his daughter, Sara, whose mournful
raising the colors in the name of Philip II, founded fate is perpetuated in a moss-grown legend,
the settlement of St. Augustine, romance took Spain loosened her grasp on Florida in 1763,
deep root. With Menendez came men of rank, regained it twenty years later and lost it forever
priests, monks, soldiers and retainers, numbering in 1821. In 1763 Florida was ceded to England
more than fifteen hundred and filling many ships, in exchange for Cuba, in 1783 ceded back to
It was a brilliant company, and such as six- Spain, in 182r, purchased by the United States
teenth-century Spain alone could send forth into for the sum of five million dollars, a new page
a wilderness. turned in its history. Yet Spain has never been
A red and yellow thread of exploration lies really absent from Florida; politically yes, but not
over the entire peninsula of Florida. We find the in color and atmosphere, and not architecturally,
strands sometimes tangled, sometimes almost lost, St. Augustine's narrow streets, overhanging bal-
but invariably picturesque; often marked by conies and walled gardens still speak of old Spain,
cruelty but touched with high romance. With the as in a lesser way do the ruins of New Smyrna on
sword in one hand and the cross in the other, the Indian River. But nowhere in Florida is the
Spain made this vast country her own. The Spanish illusion more perfect than at Coral Gables,
Indian, at first friendly, then hostile, fled before the newly developed suburb of Miami. It is not
the conqueror. The French explorer made heroic only the romance of Spain but the romance of
stand. The tragedy and pathos of the Huguenot American fortunes and American genius,
massacres form one of the dark chapters of In telling the story of Coral Gables it is difficult
Florida's history. Yet in justice to Spain and in to know where to begin; whether to sketch the
MAY 1925
one hundred seven