Map of Castries, St Lucia
Capital City of Castries named after the Marechal
de Castries; a French minister of the Marine. We’re in the
Derek Walcott Square, formally called Columbus Square. It was renamed
after our second Nobel Prize winner from St Lucia. That’s
right; this little island nation boasts two Nobel Laureates. Sir
Arthur Lewis for Economics and Derek Walcott for literature in 1993.
The Square is in the heart of the city nestled between
the uniquely ornate Roman Catholic Cathedral built in 1897 and the
Castries Central Library. Here you may also stroll in amongst some
of the oldest French colonial architechture remaining in the capital.
Castries suffered two very debilitating fires in recent history
almost leveling the town and crippling the island.
Today she is a bustling Centre with a natural harbour
welcoming several cruise lines from around the world. Offering excellent
shopping in the town market for fresh produce and arts and crafts,
Duty Free centres and even a glimps at the process of the fine art
of silk screening. The cool shade of this 400 year old Samaan tree
is far too tempting.
A
little bit of its history: Castries is the capital,
commercial center and main cruise port of St Lucia.
The town was founded by the French in about 1768 under the name Car'nage and
renamed after a French official in 1785. The earlier settlement across the
harbor at Vigie, started in 1651, was abandoned after the devastating hurricane
of 1780.
From 1803 to 1844 the British made the town a
major naval port and built fortifications on Morne Fortune, the
mountain which overlooks this important harbor. By 1844, Castries
had a population of 4,000. By the end of the century it had become
a major coaling station, because it was the only port in the Caribbean
capable of holding the whole British navy.
During WWII, a German U-boat sailed into Castries harbor and sank two allied
ships. Castries suffered major fires in 1796, 1813, 1927 and 1948 which have
shaped its development.
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