Things to do in Spanish Town
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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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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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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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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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Iron Bridge
At the bottom of Barrett St, turn left onto Bourkes Rd and follow it east to the narrow Iron Bridge spanning the Rio Cobre. The span was made of cast iron prefabricated at Colebrookdale, England, and was erected in 1801 on a cut-stone foundation that dates to 1675. The only surviving bridge of its kind in the Americas, it is still used by pedestrians, if barely. A portion of the neglected structure finally collapsed in 2001.
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House of Assembly
On the eastern side of Parade Square is the redbrick House of Assembly, erected in 1762 and today housing the offices of the St Catherine Parish Council. It has a beautiful wooden upper story with a pillar-lined balcony. The Assembly and Supreme Court sat here in colonial days, when it was the setting for violent squabbles among feuding parliamentarians.
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Old King's House
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.
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Courthouse Ruins
Moving to the south side of Parade Square, you pass the fenced-off Courthouse Ruins, destroyed in 1986 by fire. The Georgian building dates from 1819, when it was used as a chapel and armory, with the town hall upstairs.
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Cecil’s
Cecil’s, near the corner of Old Market St, is one of the nicer places to eat, serving brown stew, callaloo, oxtail, curried goat and steam fish.
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Parade Square
Spanish Town's finest old buildings enfold Parade Square, the town square established by the Spanish as the center of Jamaica's capital city in 1534.
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Roy’s Eat for Life Restaurant
Roy’s Eat for Life Restaurant, is a vegetarian restaurant and health-food store selling I-tal foods and juices.
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National Archives
The building behind the Rodney Memorial is the National Archives, with national documents dating back centuries.
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