Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (February 15, 1519 – September 17, 1574) is a Spanish admiral and explorer, best remembered for his founding of St. Augustine, Florida on August 28, 1565.

This is the first successful Spanish attempt to establish a foothold in la Florida, and is today the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement, as well as the oldest port city, in what is now the continental United States.

Menéndez subsequently becomes the first governor of Spanish Florida.

Menéndez makes his career as a sailor in the service of the king.

His first plans for a voyage to Florida revolv around searching for his son, Juan, who had been shipwrecked there in 1561.

However, following the establishment of Fort Caroline in present-day Jacksonville by French Huguenots under René Goulaine de Laudonnière, he is commissioned to conquer the peninsula as adelantado.

He establishes St. Augustine in 1565, and then attacks Fort Caroline, killing most of its inhabitants.

Now firmly established as governor, Menéndez turns his focus to exploring the area and establishing further fortifications.

He returns to Spain in 1567 and is also appointed governor of Cuba.

He makes one further trip back to Florida.

He dies in 1574.