Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine

You're standing on Cathedral Place, at the northern edge of the plaza, facing the front of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine. Start with the gables, the curving tops of the facade, where a bell hangs out in the open air, the way bells do in old Spanish mission churches. One of the bells here was salvaged from an earlier church, and it carries the date 1682. Hold that number in your head.

This congregation dates to 1565, when Spain founded St. Augustine. That makes it the oldest Christian congregation in the contiguous United States. Keeping a church standing here turned out to be much harder than starting one.

The first church of St. Augustine was simple and rapidly built, and it burned to the ground in 1586, when the English privateer Sir Francis Drake attacked the town. The replacement was straw and palmetto.

You're on Cathedral Place, between Charlotte and St. George Streets, looking at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine. Start with the front. See the curving bell gables at the roofline, the niche for a statue, and the pairs of plain columns framing the door. Then find the bell tower, with its bell hanging out in the open air.

After a cemetery, you might expect a ghost here. There isn't one in the record. What this building has instead is a habit of coming back from the dead.

The congregation goes back to 1565, the year St. Augustine was founded. That makes it the oldest Christian congregation in the continental United States. Keeping a church standing was another matter. The first one was built fast by sailors and soldiers, and in 1586 the English raider Sir Francis Drake burned it to the ground.