Historical & Cultural Landmarks in the Caribbean

Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is a fortress on a hill on the island of St. Christopher (St. Kitts). One of the best-preserved historical fortifications in the Americas, it is an example of European colonial expansion, the African slave trade, and the emergence of new societies in the Caribbean region.

After Christopher Columbus's arrival on the island in 1492, Santo Domingo became the site of the first cathedral, hospital, customs house and university in the Americas. The colonial town, founded in 1498, was laid out on a grid pattern that became the model for the New World.

Havana, founded in 1519 by the Spanish, became one of the Caribbean's main centers for shipbuilding. Its old center retains a mix of Baroque and neoclassical monuments and its defensive installations includes some of the oldest and largest stone fortifications now standing in the Americas.

The people of the Netherlands established a trading settlement at a natural harbor on the island of Curaçao in 1634. The architecture of Willemstad has been influenced not only by Dutch colonial concepts but also by the tropical climate and architectural styles from towns throughout the Caribbean region.

Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison was the focus of trade-based English expansion in the Americas and was one of the earliest established towns with a fortified port in the Caribbean network of military and maritime-mercantile outposts of the British Atlantic.

The Historic Center of Camagüey World Heritage site constitutes an outstanding urban architectural type in Latin America, featured by its irregular urban layout that produced an unusual system of squares, minor squares, serpentine streets, alleys, urban blocks and plots system.

The Spanish system of fortifications in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is the oldest European construction in the United States and one of the oldest in the New World. These fortifications guarded the entrance to San Juan Bay and protected Spanish commerce in the Caribbean basin.

These Haitian monuments date from the beginning of the 19th century, when Haiti proclaimed its independence. The Palace of Sans Souci, the buildings at Ramiers, and the Citadel serve as universal symbols of liberty, being the first monuments to be constructed by black slaves who had gained their freedom.