Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¼´Ê±¿ª½±

The interior of the Villa Zorayda Museum. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Jeff Greenberg/Getty

Villa Zorayda Museum

St Augustine


Looking like a faux Spanish castle from a medieval theme park, this gray edifice was built out of a mix of concrete and local coquina shells in 1883. The structure was the fantasy (and maybe fever dream) of an eccentric millionaire who was obsessed with Spain's 12th-century Alhambra Palace. Today, it's an odd but engaging museum. The Moorish-style atrium and rooms contain quirky antiques, archaeological pieces and other artifacts: highlights being a 2400-year-old mummy's foot and an Egyptian 'Sacred Cat Rug.'


Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¼´Ê±¿ª½±'s must-see attractions

Nearby St Augustine attractions

1. Hotel Ponce de León

0.08 MILES

This striking former luxury hotel, built in the 1880s, is now the world's most gorgeous dormitory, belonging to Flagler College, who purchased and saved…

2. Lightner Museum

0.09 MILES

Henry Flagler's former Hotel Alcazar is home to this wonderful museum with a little bit of everything, from ornate Gilded Age furnishings to collections…

3. Governor's House

0.14 MILES

A government building has stood on this site since 1598 and served as a residence, courthouse, administrative headquarters and post office. Today, it is…

4. Cathedral Basilica of St Augustine

0.19 MILES

With its magnificent bell tower lording it over the Plaza de la Constitution, this Spanish-mission-style cathedral is likely the country's first Catholic…

5. Plaza de la Constitution

0.19 MILES

In the heart of downtown, this grassy square, the oldest public park in the US and a former marketplace for food (and slaves), has an attractive gazebo,…

6. Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church

0.2 MILES

Henry Flagler, the businessman who helped forge modern Florida, his daughter and her stillborn child lie in the mausoleum at this church, Flagler's own…

7. Ximenez-Fatio House

0.21 MILES

Dating to 1798, this fascinating museum complex includes the main house building, the area's only detached kitchen building and a reconstructed washhouse…

8. Spanish Military Hospital Museum

0.21 MILES

Not for the faint of heart, guided tours of this museum discuss Colonial-era medical techniques in all their gory glory: amputations, leeching, the whole…