Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (February 15, 1519 – September 17, 1574) was Comendador of the Holy Cross of Zarza of the Knights of Santiago, Captain-General of the Ocean Sea, Governor of Cuba, Captain-General of the West, Adelantado of Florida, and Founder of St. Augustine. He faithfully served the Spanish Crown as a Captain-General of the Royal Armadas for 32 years.
The young mariner from Avilés:
A native of northern Spain, Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés was born on Saturday, February 15, 1519, in the Principality of Asturias, in the seaport of Avilés. He was one of the younger sons of Juan Alfonso Sánchez de Avilés, who had valiantly served the Catholic Monarchs in the Conquest of Granada (1482-92), and