ST. AUGUSTINE – One of the best known historic houses in St. Augustine is the Ximenez-Fatio, built starting in 1798. The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America‘s state chapter bought the house in 1939, and together with the National Park Service, the state, Carnegie Foundation and other groups, helped begin St. Augustine’s historic preservation programs.
One of the most extraordinary items found on the site is the Caravaca Cross, which is believed to have become popular in the 17th century to celebrate the end of the plague. In July of 2002, archaelogists found the cross in a trash pit. Named for a hillside town in southeastern Spain, it was found with other artifacts from around 1650, which dates it from early Spanish occupation and made it a candidate for one of the great early icons of Florida.
Leslee Keys, executive director of the Ximenez-Fatio House, told the local papers at the time that the cross was found on the “10th dig on the property. We didn’t expect to find anything that unusual,” Keys said. “The greatest value to all of us is that it’s so rare and so early.” She said the cross predates the Castillo de San Marcos which was begun in 1672 and the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine begun in 1793.
Contact: Ximenez-Fatio House, 20 Aviles Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084, 904-829-3575; if you like the cross you can Order a replica online
