St. Kitts & Nevis · 6 sights · guided virtual tour, about 4 min
Welcome to Basseterre, the capital and largest city of Saint Kitts and Nevis, on the south-western coast of Saint Kitts. It is one of the oldest towns in the Eastern Caribbean, founded by the French in 1627. Under the French governor Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy, who arrived in 1639, it grew into a large and successful port, and he made it the capital of the entire French West Indies, including Guadeloupe and Martinique. Today it is one of the chief commercial ports of the Leeward Islands. Let's walk its historic squares and then head into the island's hills.
Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park
Photo: Ukexpat · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsLook up at Brimstone Hill Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the best preserved historic fortifications in the Americas. It was designed by British military engineers and built and maintained by enslaved Africans. The fortress crowns a very steep hill close to the sea. Cannon were first hauled up here in 1689 by the French, who used them to capture the English Fort Charles below. A year later the English, under Sir Christopher Codrington, used the very same tactic to take it back, and from then on the hill became a fortress.
Independence Square
Photo: Gertjan R. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsHere is Independence Square, named when Saint Kitts and Nevis achieved independence on 19 September 1983. Originally called Pall Mall Square, it was acquired by the government in 1750 and quickly became the heart of Basseterre's administration, trade and social life. It also has a painful history. This was the site of the market where enslaved men, women and children were sold, right where the fountain stands today. On the south side, look for a basement with barred windows, where enslaved Africans were held before being sold.
Berkeley Memorial
Photo: Dead.rabbit · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsIn the centre of the Circus stands the Berkeley Memorial, built in honour of Thomas Berkeley. It combines a drinking fountain with a clock, and notice its four clock faces, each one looking down one of the four streets that lead into the Circus. The memorial was designed and built by George Smith and Company of Glasgow in Scotland. The foundry made two other similar structures, but this is the only one that has survived.
St. George's Anglican Church
Photo: J. Stephen Conn · CC BY-SA 1.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBefore you stands St. George's Anglican Church, a church that has risen again and again. The first church here was built by French Jesuits in 1670 and dedicated to Our Lady, but English soldiers burned it in 1706. Rebuilt and renamed St. George's in 1710, it was damaged by fire in 1763 and ruined by an earthquake in 1842 and a hurricane in 1843. The present church was consecrated on 25 March 1859, only to be gutted in the Great Fire of 1867, and restored two years later.
Basseterre Co-Cathedral of Immaculate Conception
Photo: Gertjan R. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsNext we visit the Co-Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, a Catholic cathedral with a long story behind it. After the English took over the island in 1713, Catholics were forbidden by law to worship in public, and they faced restrictions on holding office. An Act of 1829 finally removed these barriers, and Catholic life revived. From 1835 onwards, migrants arriving from the Portuguese island of Madeira helped the Catholic community grow further.
Romney Manor
Photo: Heather Cowper · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOur tour ends at Romney Manor, on the Wingfield Estate. Here is a surprising connection: in 1625 the estate was bought by Samuel Jefferson, the great-great-grandfather of Thomas Jefferson, who set up a sugar plantation. It was later named after the Earl of Romney, who bought it from the Jeffersons in 1713. The plantation relied on the labour of enslaved people until 1834. The manor is now home to a batik workshop and a botanical garden.
Lomakuume
