1 - The Spanish village at San Luis started in 1656, and is believed to have been quite extensive by 1694. One account describes it as having the appearance of a Spanish city. Nearly 100 men of arms-bearing age went to the aid of St. Augustine residents when it was attacked in 1702, suggesting that there may have been as many as 50 houses.

2 - The Spanish village (at least the areas excavated to date) did not have a uniform appearance since the settlers did not arrive all at once, but over a long period of time. Unlike other Spanish colonial communities, such as St. Augustine, there is no indication that houses faced onto streets radiating off of the central plaza, or that the town was laid out on any type of grid system.

3 - The Spanish residential part of San Luis was probably quite spread out. Archaeology has revealed evidence of houses, outbuildings, and possible corrals in the Spanish village. It is likely that families maintained kitchen gardens and fruit trees for their personal consumption, while corn and other field crops were provided to Spanish residents by natives.

4 - The houses in the Spanish village were similar to those found in Spain. Rectangular in design, the walls were made from wooden planks or wattle and daub, and the roofs were covered with thatch. Whitewashing walls was a regular part of annual maintenance activities. Although window glass was being manufactured at this time, it is rarely found on seventeenth century Spanish colonial sites in Florida.

5 - The demographic makeup of the Spanish village was probably unlike that of any other mission community since a broader cross-section of Spaniards (other than just a friar) lived at San Luis. Households included Spanish men married to Spanish women, Spanish men married to Indian women, and possibly Apalachee leaders and their families. One document recounts San Luis's acting chief, Matheo Chuba, being admonished by a Spanish lieutenant after which Chuba went "to his lodge and plaza crying, and that the Spaniards who lived around the said plaza, had consoled him." It is possible that the "lodge on the plaza" is the chief's house, or there may have been other plazas in the Spanish residential area.

6 - The Hispanic population of La Florida fell into three broad groups: peninsulares, criollos, and mestizos. Peninsulares were born in Spain and immigrated to the New World, criollos were born in the Americas to Hispanic parents, and mestizos were the offspring of a Spaniard and an Indian (they usually had an Indian mother and a Spanish father). Most, if not all, of the Spaniards living at San Luis, particularly by 1700, were criollos. Although mestizos held the lowest social ranking, they enjoyed privileges (such as being exempt from manual labor) not accorded to Indians unless they belonged to the chiefly class.

7 - The important role that native women played in the maintenance of Spanish households is evidenced by the large number of Indian ceramics from the Spanish village. Used primarily for food storage and cooking, native pottery is consistently more abundant than any other type of pottery. Apalachee women even made replicas of European vessels, called "colono wares" or "copy wares," that were probably used by Spaniards when they ran short on imported dishes.

8 - Many items recovered from the Spanish village suggest that Hispanic residents probably had a greater sense of well being at San Luis than they did in other parts of Florida. Commerce with Havana provided access to imported goods, while local environs were conducive to raising many preferred foodstuffs. The recovery of large quantities of olive jar throughout the Spanish village indicates that many Iberian staples such as olive, olive oil, and wine were regularly imported by San Luis residents. And zooarchaeological analysis indicates that Spaniards living here consumed a greater proportion of European domesticates, particularly cows and pigs, than at other Florida sites.

9 - Artifacts from the Spanish village include some items that can be attributed to children including small clay figurines (or juguetes), rings, and maybe even a small bone die. Some parents undoubtedly made their children wear jet amulets (higas) since they believed these had protective properties.

10 - Seventeenth century Spaniards had very different ideas about hygiene and sanitation than we do today. They surely took advantage of the seep springs to bathe and wash clothing, and used the great outdoors as their bathroom. When indoors they would have used wash basins (lebrillos) and chamber pots (bacines), but the contents would eventually end up outdoors as well. In many respects, dispersed communities like San Luis would have been more sanitary than major Spanish cities where human waste was regularly dumped directly into the street.

ission San Luis is open to the public Tuesday-Sunday 10-4. Admission is free. For special tour arrangements or information on living history and educational programming, please call (850) 487-3711. Archaeological and historical research staff may be reached at (850) 487-3655.