Castries travel guide

The capital, Castries, is splendidly set on a natural harbour against a mountainous background. Largely rebuilt after being destroyed by four major fires, the last in 1948, the commercial centre and government offices are built of concrete. Only the buildings to the south of Derek Walcott Square and behind Brazil Street were saved. Here you will see late 19th- and early 20th-century French-style wooden buildings with three storeys, their gingerbread fretwork balconies overhanging the pavement. The other area which survived was the1894 iron market on the north side of Jeremie Street. A new market has been built next door to house the many fruit sellers on the ground floor, while on the first floor and in an arcade opposite are vendors of T-shirts, crafts, spices, basket work, leeches and hot pepper sauce. On the eastern side of the old market there is a little arcade with small booths where vendors provide good vegetarian food, Creole meals and local juices. There are duty-free shopping centres for cruise ship passengers at La Place Carenage by the main dock and at Pointe Seraphine to the north . The tallest building in the city is the seven-storey Financial Centre at the corner of Jeremie and Bridge Streets, with a joyous sculpture by local artist, Ricky George.

Derek Walcott Square was the site of the Place D’Armes in 1768 when the town transferred from Vigie. Renamed Promenade Square, it then became Columbus Square in 1893. In 1993 it was renamed in honour of poet Derek Walcott and contains busts of both Nobel Laureates. It was the original site of the courthouse and the market and is now used for ceremonial occasions and entertainment, including concerts during the Jazz Festival. The library, built by US millionaire Andrew Carnegie, is on its west side. The giant Saman tree in the middle is about 400 years old. On its east side lies the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception which bursts into colour inside. Suffused with yellow light, the side altars are often covered with flowers while votive candles placed in red, green and yellow jars give a fairy tale effect. The ceiling, supported by iron arches and braces is decorated with panelled portraits of the apostles. Above the central altar with its four carved screens, the apse ceiling has paintings of five female saints with St Lucy in the centre. The walls have murals by Dunstan St Omer, one of St Lucia’s better known artists . They are of the stations of the cross and are unusual in that the people in the paintings are black. The twelve stained glass windows were created by his son, Giovanni....read more