Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Mural

The Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Mural was presented by the City of Aviles, Spain to the City of St. Augustine on February 22, 2002, to celebrate their long-standing Sister Cities relationship. The mural incorporates tiles crafted by thirty-three artists including members of the Ceramic Group of Asturias and students and teachers from the Municipal Ceramics School of Avilés. These artists were selected from the 7th Annual San Augustin Ceramic Event. This annual competition focused on Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, who founded St. Augustine in 1565.

After the tiles were created, they were shipped to St. Augustine where they were assembled by the City of St. Augustine’s Public Works Department under the creative direction of Ramon Rodriguez, the Director of the Municipal Ceramics School of Avilés. The tiles feature depictions of the American and Spanish flags and the city flags of Aviles and St. Augustine, along with many different interpretations of Menendez. Each tile was crafted applying various ceramic techniques including bas-relief, hand-painting, and sgraffito.  A single-white tile in the mural’s lower-left corner lists the names of each individual artist who contributed their work.

The mural is currently on display on Avilés Street just past the arch at the King Street entrance.

Public Domain image, credit Paul Brennan.