St. Kitts
Like no other...
With its intoxicating blend of sun, sea and sky, natural beauty, and lush verdant mountains, St. Kitts has been called one of the most seductive islands in the Caribbean. Along with other Eastern Caribbean islands of volcanic origin, and abundant vegetation, it could easily be in the South Pacific. Development has purposely been of low quantity, but high quality, keeping Saint Kitts as un-crowded as it is unspoiled. It has maintained a world-wide reputation for excellent preservation of its ecosystems. Outdoor enthusiasts can explore tropical rain-forests, lava formations, secluded lagoons and deserted beaches. Golf, fishing and boating are available, along with exquisite reefs for scuba diving. Visitors are treated to: excellent examples of Creole and West Indian architecture, as well as evocative Georgian architecture reflecting St. Kitts British colonial past; an abundance of history; restored fortresses; ancient petroglyphs; quaint places to shop; and plantation homes transformed into intimate inns with grand style.
Deciding where to stay will largely depend on your tastes and what you are looking for on your visit. There are many possibilities to choose from, ranging from modern hotels & resorts; spacious and elegant condominiums & villas; scenic plantation inns set on green mountain slopes; guest houses; and apartments homes, all offering Caribbean-style living.
St. Kitts airport is the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport, which boasts all the modern conveniences of any world-class international airport of its size, and is widely acclaimed to be the best mid-size airport in the entire Caribbean. Most carriers from the United States fly to Antigua, St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. Martin/St. Maarten, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, where connections to St. Kitts can be made. However, direct flights are available with some carriers in certain cities.
Cruise Ships and yachts dock at Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts. Yachters will need cruising permits to visit other anchorages and a special pass to go between St. Kitts & Nevis. Also at Basseterre is the island’s brand-new, deep-water cruise-ship facility, Port Zante. From the port, one can easily reach the town’s historic district and explore the main attractions on foot.
A short walk to The Circus, will find an octagonal plaza intended to be a miniature version of London’s famous Piccadilly Circus. At its center is the Berkeley Memorial Drinking Fountain and Clock, erected in 1891. Every side of the square is lined with duty-free shops, local boutiques and banks, and you can always find a taxi or tour bus here. Stroll down Bank Street to the charming garden setting of Independence Square, a stately Georgian-style plaza built in 1790. The presbytery next door is considered one of the most attractive buildings in Basseterre.
Down Cayon Street, is St. George’s Anglican Church. This stone church was originally built by the French in 1670 and named Notre Dame. Leveled three times by fire and once by an earthquake, its been restored each time - lastly in 1869.
History
The tranquil atmosphere of St. Kitts and even more so - Nevis, suggests nothing of the extraordinary histories of these two islands. For centuries, St. Kitts and Nevis occupied a critical position in the European struggle for the West Indies, combining exceptional wealth as sugar colonies with a vital strategic position as gateways to the Caribbean. As a result, the struggles and conflicts that marked their history are among the most decisive episodes in Caribbean history.
As with much the Caribbean, St. Kitts and Nevis were first settled by Arawak and Carib Indians moving up through the islands from South America between five and seven thousand years ago. By the time Columbus arrived in 1493, both islands had long been occupied by these Indians. However, by the early 17th century the inhabitants of Nevis had disappeared, likely because of Spanish attacks, European diseases, or forced labor that took its toll.
Christopher Columbus may have provided both St. Kitts and Nevis with their original European names, calling the larger of the two St. Christopher, in honor of the patron saint of travelers, but it's fairly certain that British sailors dubbed it St. Kitts. Because its cloud covered central mountain peak may have suggested a snow cap to the Spanish, Nevis derived its name from the Spanish phrase "Nuestro Senora del las Nieves, which means "Our Lady of the Snows", in English.
The English began colonizing St. Kitts in 1623, and were joined by French settlers in 1625 who sought refuge on the island after a losing fight at sea with the Spanish. These two groups wiped out the Carib Indians in a massacre at Bloody Point in 1626, weathered a Spanish attack in 1629, and then turned their attentions to colonizing the islands around them. From St. Kitts, the British settled Nevis, Antigua, Barbuda, Tortuga, and Montserrat, while the French claimed Martinique and Guadeloupe. Both St. Kitts & Nevis became increasingly prosperous over the next many years, but intermittent warfare between the French and British continued up until 1783. It was just after the successful French siege on the massive British fort at Brimstone Hill, that St. Kitts was permanently returned to the British, as part of the Treaty of Versailles.
During this same time period, Nevis had its own colorful history. In 1628 a group of residents from St. Kitts and new settlers from England moved in and eventually cleared the island for growing tobacco. It turned out that the tobacco from Nevis was no rival to that of Virginia, and within a couple generations, the island had switched to sugar. Initial production was small, but Dutch traders, and a group of Sephardic Jews escaping persecution in Brazil, arrived with the Spanish secret of crystallizing sugar. With the ability to preserve sugar for shipping, Nevis flourished, and its sugar industry turned it into a wealthy colony. With revenues surpassing those of several North American colonies combined, Nevis became known as the "Queen of the Caribbees", the most celebrated sugar colony in the Caribbean.
But prosperity brought its own problems, from a heavy dependence on slave labor, to pirates and privateers seeking as prizes, the richly-laden merchant ships. Also, Nevis' wealth made it ripe for attacks by other countries. France, Spain and Holland all fought against the English on Nevis and throughout the next decades, ended up seriously damaging sugar production and causing many to leave the island. There wasn't a reprieve until the Treaty of Versailles in the late 18th century allowed the island and its sugar economy to recover. Social life on Nevis became extravagant and the island, a kind of 18th-century playground for the rich and famous, with lavish entertainments at the Bath Hotel and the construction of grand estate houses; many of which are now among the Caribbean's finest plantation inns. This was also the time during which Nevis welcomed Horatio Nelson.
During the early 19th century, slavery was finally abolished, and the absence of free labor that made the sugar industry profitable, caused the industry, along with Nevis' fortune to diminish rapidly. Over the course of the nineteenth century life on St. Kitts and Nevis was difficult, as economic inactivity combined with natural disasters frustrated revitalization efforts. In fact, it wasn't until the rise of tourism in recent decades that St. Kitts and Nevis again attracted attention and achieved a re-invigorated economy.
Only the fortress at Brimstone Hill remains as a reminder of the uneasy history of these islands. Today, the country is a model of peace and stability in the Caribbean. The Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis, is democratically ruled, with an economic focus on tourism, sugarcane, and ecology.
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