The Father Pedro Camps Memorial Monument stands in the courtyard of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, honouring a priest who was, by any measure, spectacularly difficult to keep locked up. Camps arrived in Florida in 1768 as chaplain to over 1,400 indentured workers lured from Greece, Italy, Corsica and his native Menorca to toil on Andrew Turnbull's indigo plantation at New Smyrna. When conditions turned deadly and 600 survivors fled north to St. Augustine in 1777, Turnbull held Camps prisoner for four months. He escaped anyway, found no Catholic parish waiting for him, and simply started one at the Avero House on St. George Street.
His 'Golden Book,' still held inside the Cathedral Basilica, records the Minorcans' flight to freedom.
VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours trace that journey from the courtyard statue up St. George Street, connecting Camps' parish founding to the Avero House and the community that still shapes the city.
Tours featuring Father Pedro Camps Memorial Monument (2)