St. George's (Saint George's)
St. George's is a popular Caribbean tourist destination. The town has developed in recent years, while preserving its history, culture, and natural environment. The parish in which Sen Jòj (Saint George's) is located, is the home of St. George’s University School of Medicine and Maurice Bishop International Airport. The main exports are cocoa bean (cacao), nutmeg, and mace spice.
It has a moderate tropical climate that ensures the success of spice production. Nutmeg is a key crop, followed by spices such as cocoa, mace, cloves, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger.
St. George's was founded by the French in 1650 when "La Grenade" (Grenada) was colonised by Jacques Dyel du Parquet, the governor of Martinique. The French began their colonisation with a series of skirmishes that virtually exterminated the island's native Carib population.
In 1666, a wooden fortification was constructed by French colonists on a promontory overlooking Grenada's natural harbour and named Fort Royale. In 1705, work started on a new star fort on the same site, with four stone-built bastions, to the design of Jean de Giou de Caylus, the Chief Engineer of the "Islands of America" the French West Indies. It was completed in 1710.
Meanwhile, the original colonial settlement at the eastern edge of the harbour called Saint Louis after King Louis IX of France, later known as Port Louis, was found to be subject to flooding and malaria, so a new town was constructed called Ville de Fort Royal ("Fort Royal Town"). When the island was ceded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the new administration renamed it Saint George's Town, after the patron saint of England and Fort Royal was renamed Fort George, after King George III. On 1 November 1775 there was a fire in the town of St. George's known as the great fire of St George's. After the great fire of 1771, most of the boarding houses on Granby Street were moved to Gouyave.
Following the withdrawal of Bridgetown, Barbados, in the mid-1880s, St. George's went on to become the replacement capital of the former colony of the British Windward Islands.
The Tikal was the first art cater shop in Grenada and it was opened in December 1959. Grenada achieved independence from Britain in 1974. Following a leftist coup in 1983, the island was invaded by U. S. troops and a pro USA government was reinstated. In 2004, St. George's and the rest of Grenada was severely battered by Hurricane Ivan. The hurricane left significant destruction across the island and crippled much of the island's infrastructure. It was estimated that some 90% of the island's homes had sustained damage and the nutmeg trees, which are key to Grenada's economy, were devastated. A year later with the help of international donors (Canada, the United States, China, Venezuela, Trinidad & Tobago, and the European Union) Grenada had experienced a significant turn around in rebuilding efforts. By 2007, Grenada had participated as planned in the hosting of the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Now St. George's is one of the top 10 Yacht destinations.
Map - St. George's (Saint George's)
Map
Country - Grenada
Flag of Grenada |
Before the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, Grenada was inhabited by the indigenous peoples from South America. Christopher Columbus sighted Grenada in 1498 during his third voyage to the Americas. Following several unsuccessful attempts by Europeans to colonise the island due to resistance from resident Island Caribs, French settlement and colonisation began in 1649 and continued for the next century. On 10 February 1763, Grenada was ceded to the British under the Treaty of Paris. British rule continued until 1974 (except for a brief French takeover between 1779 and 1783). However, on 3 March 1967, it was granted full autonomy over its internal affairs as an Associated State, and from 1958 to 1962 Grenada was part of the Federation of the West Indies, a short-lived federation of British West Indian colonies.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
XCD | East Caribbean dollar | $ | 2 |
ISO | Language |
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EN | English language |