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.'


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