Sights in Kingston
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National Gallery of Jamaica
The superlative collection of Jamaican art housed by the National Gallery is quite simply the finest on the island and should on no account be missed. In addition to offering an intrinsically Jamaican take on international artistic trends, the collection attests to the vitality of the country’s artistic heritage as well as its present. The core of the permanent collection is presented on the 1st floor in 10 galleries representing the Jamaican School, organized chronologically spanning the years 1922 to the present. The first rooms are mainly devoted to the sculptures of Edna Manley and the spectacularly vibrant ‘intuitive’ paintings, notably the dark landscapes of John Du…
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Bob Marley Museum
For many, Jamaica means reggae, and reggae means Bob Marley. If this sounds like you, a visit to Kingston definitely means a visit to the reggae superstar’s former home and studio. The creaky wooden house on Hope Rd where Marley once lived and recorded is the city’s most-visited site. Today the house functions as a tourist attraction, museum and shrine, but much remains as it was during Marley’s day. The house is guarded by a sentry of faithful Rasta brethren and sisters and shielded by a vibrantly painted wall festooned with Rastafarian murals. Dominating the forecourt is a gaily colored statue of the musical legend. Some of the guides are overly solemn (focusing with …
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Trench Town Museum
Trench Town, which began life as a much-prized housing project erected by the British in the 1930s, is widely credited as the birthplace of ska, rocksteady and reggae music. The neighborhood has been immortalized in the gritty narratives of numerous reggae songs, not the least of which is Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry, the poignant Trench Town anthem penned by Vincent ‘Tata’ Ford in a tiny bedroom at what is now the Trench Town Museum. In the days before superstardom, Bob and Rita Marley were frequent visitors and for a time even kept a small bedroom here. The museum is stocked with Wailers memorabilia, including Marley’s first guitar, some poignant photographs from …
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Devon House
This restored home nestles in landscaped grounds on the northwest side of Hope Rd at its junction with Waterloo Rd. A beautiful ochre-and-white house, it was built in 1881 by George Stiebel, a Jamaican wheelwright who hit paydirt in the gold mines of Venezuela. The millionaire rose to become the first black custos of St Andrew. The government bought and restored the building in 1967 to house the National Gallery of Jamaica, which has since moved to its present location downtown. Antique lovers will enjoy the visit, whose highlights include some very ornate porcelain chandeliers. Note the trompe l’oeil of palms in the entrance foyer. Stiebel even incorporated a game room w…
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Hope Gardens
These 45-acre gardens, replete with manicured grounds, exotic plants and beautiful flowers, date back to 1881 when the government established an experimental garden on the site of the former Hope Estate. Part of the Hope Aqueduct, built in 1758 to supply the estate, is still in use. The Ministry of Agriculture, which administers the gardens, maintains a research station and nursery, although the gardens have been in steady decline for some decades and are now in a somewhat sad state. This is not to say that a visit is not rewarding; the spacious lawns, towering palms and flower-scented walkways provide a lovely respite from the urban jungle. Among the attractions are cyca…
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National Heroes Park
The 30-hectare oval-shaped National Heroes Park was the Kingston Racecourse. Today its north end is a forlorn wasteland grazed by goats. At the park’s southern end, however, National Heroes Circle contains some intriguing statues and memorials. The tomb of Sir Alexander Bustamante is a flat marble slab beneath an arch. More interesting is the Memorial to 1865, commemorating the Morant Bay Rebellion with a rock on a pedestal flanked by bronze busts of Abraham Lincoln and a black slave with a sword. Marcus Garvey is also buried here, as is ex-premier Norman Manley, whose body was flown here from England in 1964 and reinterred with state honors. The Manley Monument, hon…
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Headquarters House
This trim little townhouse-turned-museum is one block north and two east of North Pde. The brick-and-timber house was originally known as Hibbert House, named after Thomas Hibbert, reportedly one of four members of the Assembly who in 1755 engaged in a bet to build the finest house and thereby win the attention of a much-sought-after beauty. It seems he lost the bet. In 1872, when the capital was moved from Spanish Town to Kingston, the house became the seat of the Jamaican legislature and remained so until 1960, when Gordon House was built across the street. Since 1983, Headquarters House has hosted the Jamaican National Heritage Trust, which has its offices in the forme…
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St Jago de la Vega Cathedral
From the town square, take White Church St south for three blocks to St Jago de la Vega Cathedral, the oldest Anglican cathedral in the former British colonies. It's also one of the prettiest churches in Jamaica, boasting wooden fluted pillars, an impressive beamed ceiling, a magnificent stained-glass window behind the altar, and a large organ dating to 1849.
The church stands on the site of one of the first Spanish cathedrals in the New World: the Franciscan Chapel of the Red Cross, built in 1525. English soldiers destroyed the Catholic church and used the original materials to build their cathedral. The current structure dates from 1714. Note the handsome octagonal stee…
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Tuff Gong Recording Studios
Tuff Gong Records – named for its founder, Bob ‘Tuff Gong’ Marley – is one of the Caribbean’s largest and most influential studios. Initially established on Orange St, the enterprise then took up residence at 56 Hope Rd at what is now the Bob Marley Museum before returning to downtown Kingston at its present site. Bob Marley’s early mixing board traveled with the studio and is still in use today as the studio continues to turn out hit records, not least of which are those by his son Ziggy, the studio’s current chief. It’s a commercial venture with a remastering plant and remixing studio, but visitors are welcome to a 45-minute tour provided you call first to mak…
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Mico Teachers College
The impressive wooden colonial structures north of Wolmer’s School house one of the oldest teacher-training colleges in the world, Mico Teachers College. The original funds to establish the institution were bequest in a bizarre set of circumstances. In 1670, a nephew of Lady Mico refused at the eleventh hour to marry one of her six nieces. The unused dowry was invested, with a portion being set aside as ransom to liberate Christian captives from Barbary pirates. A century and a half later, as piracy waned, the considerable accumulated assets were used to establish the Mico Colleges with a mission to educate former slaves after emancipation. The impressive main building …
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St Peter's Church
Built in 1725 of red brick, this church is handsome within, despite its faux-brick facade of cement. Note the floor paved with original black-and-white tiles, and the beautifully decorated wooden organ loft built in 1743 and shipped to England in 1996 for restoration. The place is replete with memorial plaques. The communion plate kept in the vestry is said to have been donated by Henry Morgan, though experts date it to later times.
Most intriguing is a churchyard tomb of Lewis Galdye, a Frenchman who, according to his tombstone, '…was swallowed up in the Great Earth-quake in the Year 1692 & By the Providence of God was by another Shock thrown into the Sea & Miraculously …
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Kingston Parish Church
The gleaming white edifice facing William Grant Park’s southeast corner is Kingston Parish Church, today serving a much reduced congregation of true Kingstonians – those ‘born under the clock’ (within earshot of its bell). The original church was destroyed in the 1907 earthquake and was replaced (in concrete) by the existing building. Note the tomb dating to 1699, the year the original church was built. Admiral Benbow, the commander of the Royal Navy in the West Indies at the turn of the 18th century, lies beneath a tombstone near the High Altar. Marble plaques commemorate soldiers of the West Indian regiments who died of fever or other hardships during colonial wars.…
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Gordon House
Jamaica’s parliament meets at Gordon House, immediately north of Headquarters House. The rather plain brick-and-concrete building was constructed in 1960 and named after national hero the Right Excellent George William Gordon (1820–65). You can visit Gordon House by prior arrangement to watch how the Jamaican parliament conducts business. The legislature has a single chamber, where the House of Representatives and the Senate meet at different times – the former at 2pm on Tuesday (and sometimes, during pressing business, on Wednesday at the same hour), and the latter at 10am on Friday. When the legislature is not in session, the marshal sometimes lets visitors in at his …
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People’s Museum of Crafts & Technology
On the west side of Parade Square is the porticoed Georgian redbrick facade of the ruins of the Old King’s House, a once-grandiose building erected in 1762 as the official residence of Jamaica’s governors. The building was destroyed by fire in 1925, leaving only the restored facade. Today the stables, to the rear, house the People’s Museum of Crafts & Technology. A reconstructed smith’s shop and an eclectic array of artifacts – from Indian corn grinders to coffee-making machinery – provide an entry point to early Jamaican culture. A model shows how Old King’s House once looked.
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Maritime Museum
The marvelous Maritime Museum stands in the courtyard and contains a miscellany of things nautical from the heyday of the Royal Navy, plus a fabulous model of the Jamaica Producer cargo ship. Nelson lived in the small 'cockpit' while stationed here, and his quarters are replicated. Also of interest is a platform known as Nelson's Quarterdeck.
It was here that the young Horatio Nelson was said to keep watch for enemy ships, and once you climb to the top you'll agree that it does offer a splendid vantage point. A plaque on the wall of the King's Battery, to the right of the main entrance of the museum, commemorates his time here.
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William Grant Park
Betwixt North and South Pde is William Grant Park, which originally hosted a fortress erected in 1694 with guns pointing down King St toward the harbor. The fort was torn down and a garden, Victoria Park, laid out in 1870, with a life-size statue of Queen Victoria at its center. She has since been replaced by a bust of Sir Alexander Bustamante; Her Majesty's statue now stands on the east side of the park.
The park was renamed in 1977 to honor Black nationalist and labor leader Sir William Grant (1894-1977), who preached his Garveyite message of African redemption here. At the center of the park is a whimsical four-tiered fountain.
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Emancipation Park
This wide open space, carved from the dense urban jungle, has a jogging track, stately fountains and, winningly, reggae music emanating from tiny speakers hidden in the grass. It’s a grand place for a promenade, particularly at sunset when the walkways fill with cheerful Kingstonians just liberated from their workplaces. A controversial focal point is the US$4.5 million statue Redemption Song, by Laura Facey Cooper. Depicting a couple of nude, 3m-tall slaves gazing to the heavens, the epic work sometimes elicits prurient comments by passersby due to certain larger-than-life physical attributes of the figures.
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Castleton Gardens
These gardens, straddling the A3, 27km north of Half Way Tree, are spread over 12 hectares on the banks of the Wag Water River. Many exotic species introduced to Jamaica were first planted here. The gardens, which rise up the hillside on the west side of the road, date back to 1860, when 400 specimens from Kew Gardens in London were transplanted on the former sugar plantation owned by Lord Castleton. More than 1000 species of natives and exotics are displayed. There’s a picnic area with cafeteria and toilets. The guides are unpaid (they’re not allowed to charge), but tips are welcome.
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Synagogue
Jamaica’s only synagogue, home to the United Congregation of the Israelites, is an attractive building dating from 1912 (its predecessor was toppled by the 1907 earthquake). The place is worth a visit for its fine mahogany staircase and gallery. Sand muffles your footsteps as you roam – a symbolic memorial to the days of the Inquisition, when Jews fleeing persecution in Spain were forced to practice their faith in Jamaica in secret. The synagogue is usually locked, though if you call in advance you can often arrange for the caretaker to open up on request for a small donation.
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White Marl Taino Museum
Jamaica owes much to the influence of the Arawak Indians, whose history is on display at this meager museum atop a large pre-Columbian settlement. Archaeological research has been ongoing here since the 1940s. Hunting and agricultural implements, jewelry and carvings are featured. A reconstructed Arawak village is up the hill behind the museum. The museum is 200m north of the A1, about 3km east of Spanish Town. Don’t try to walk there; instead drive or take a taxi from the taxi stand east of Spanish Town’s bus terminal.
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Rodney Memorial
Dominating Parade square on the north side is the elaborate Rodney Memorial, built in honor of Admiral George Rodney, who crowned his four-year service as commander-in-chief of the West Indian Naval Station in 1782 when he saved Jamaica from a combined French and Spanish invasion fleet at the Battle of the Saints. He stands within a cupola temple, with sculpted panel reliefs showing the battle scenes. The monument is fronted by two brass cannons from the French flagship.
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African-Caribbean Heritage Centre
Presided over by the Institute of Jamaica, the Heritage Centre houses a library and a small yet informative gallery that is dedicated to the history of the Middle Passage and a sociocultural exploration of the African diaspora. It is also home to the Memory Bank, an engrossing oral-history archive created to preserve Jamaica’s rich folkloric traditions. The center also stages cultural events from lectures and symposia to readings and dance performance.
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St Andrew’s Scots Kirk
The octagonal Georgian brick structure of St Andrew’s Scots Kirk serves the United Church of Jamaica and Grand Cayman. It was built from 1813 to 1819 by a group of prominent Scottish merchants and is surrounded by a gallery supported by Corinthian pillars. Note the white-on-blue St Andrew cross in the stained-glass window. You’ll be amply rewarded if you visit during a service, when its acclaimed choir, the St Andrew Singers, performs.
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St Catherine District Prison
Walking southeast along Barrett St from the church, you'll pass behind the St Catherine District Prison. Hangings have been carried out here since 1714. Today, many prisoners are on death row in narrow cells that date back almost three centuries. Conditions in the prison, Jamaica's largest, were condemned in 1994 by the UN Human Rights Committee, and a British Member of Parliament described a recent visit as 'like something out of a nightmare.'
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Fort Charles
Jamaica’s latitude and longitude are measured from the flagstaff of Fort Charles, a weathered redoubt originally laid in 1655. Among Port Royal’s six original forts, only Fort Charles withstood the 1692 earthquake. It was rebuilt in red brick in 1699 and added to several times over the years. It was originally washed by the sea on three sides, but silt gradually built up and it is now firmly landlocked.
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