Barbados
With a breathtaking location beside the white sandy beaches of Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown is the capital and the only city of Barbados. Boasting one of the most sophisticated ports in the Caribbean with excellent duty-free shopping, this bustling, modern city is also the main tourist hub on the island.Barbados means bearded. The island got its name because of the mossy plants that hang from the trees. Founded in 1628 by a tiny group of British settlers, Bridgetown is home to approximately 40 percent of the island's population (some 100,000 people). The early settlers, finding an Amerindian wooden bridge across the water, named the area Indian River Bridge.
Bordered by Carlisle Bay, the capital city proved economically important to the early British settlers. From the seventeenth century onwards, trading in sugar and using slaves as their labor force, the town's merchants thrived and grew their fortunes, building grand warehouses along the waterfront. Most of the great buildings of these "golden years," however, were destroyed in a series of fires and hurricanes. Today there is only a handful that predates the last great fire of 1860.
Bridgetown is one of the oldest cities in the Caribbean. Its rich history identifies it as the origin of colonial trading activity during the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The controversial statue of Admiral Nelson erected in 1813, some twenty-seven years before the London monument, reflects the importance of Barbados as the "jewel in the crown" of British colonialism during the Imperial Age. The statue has recently been the subject of national controversy and debate as it is thought to link Barbados too closely with its colonial heritage. First Nelson was turned around 180 degrees so that he no longer looked down Broad Street, the main shopping hub. Now there are plans to remove the statue altogether until a suitable home can be found. There is little irony in the fact that it was erected in the heart of the city's major crossroads, Trafalgar Square. Signaling the increasing awareness of Barbadian national heroes and the cultural identity of the island's people, Trafalgar Square was renamed National Heroes Square in 1999.
Compared to other Caribbean islands, violent political struggles and slave rebellions do not occupy a major part of Barbados history. However, Bridgetown became the focus of the Afro-Barbadian struggle for political and economic freedom in the first half of the twentieth century. On the evening of July 26th, 1937, meetings were held and attended by crowds in the Lower Green and Golden Square to protest against the deportation of their "shepherd" Clement Payne, a political activist. After the meetings, the crowds became uncontrollable. They roamed Bridgetown, smashing electric street lamps and the windscreens of motor cars. The police eventually restored order. Independence from the island's planters, however, didn't come until 1949.
The architecture of Bridgetown today is an interesting blend of attractive, balconied colonial buildings, warehouses, modern department stores, brash office blocks and small chattel houses. Compared to other parts of the island, the residential dwellings located in the city are more crudely constructed from timber and corrugated aluminum and generally house the poorer citizens of the island. Though tucked away from the ultra-modern, sophisticated, and tourist-oriented commercial activity of the city, New Orleans, (also known as "De Orleans"), Pondside, and Green Fields are the distressed districts where the poor live. However, starting in the mid-1990s, efforts have been made by the present Owen Arthur administration to develop Bridgetown's residential districts under its Urban Development Commission. Poverty Alleviation programs have also raised the quality of life for the peoples of Bridgeton.
A picturesque center of activity is the Careenage, a berthing area for many sleek yachts and a pebble's throw from the House of Assembly. Established by Governor Henry Hawley, the House of Assembly has stood as a symbol of the island's unbroken tradition of parliamentary government and democratic traditions since 1639.
A number of the island's leading buildings of religious significance are within a five minutes' walk of the Careenage, including St. Michael's Cathedral and the Jewish Synagogue, both still standing on the sites of their mid-seventeenth century original locations. St. Michael's Cathedral has a fine set of inscriptions and a single-hand clock. The first building was consecrated in 1665 but destroyed by a hurricane in 1780. The present cathedral is long and broad with a balcony. It has a fine vaulted ceiling and some tombs (1675) were built into the porch. Completed in 1789, it suffered hurricane damage in 1831. The original synagogue was one of the two earliest in the Western Hemisphere while the present building is an early 19th century structure. Jews fleeing Recife, Brazil built the synagogue in the late 1660s. They learned that Oliver Cromwell had extended freedom of worship for Jews and were granted permission to settle in Barbados. Recently painstakingly restored, it is now used for religious services again and is open to visitors. Today, 16 families support it.
Just north of the city lies Tyrol Cot, an unusual nineteenth century house that was home to two of the island's leading post-war politicians, Sir Grantley Adams and his son Tom Adams. Heritage Village sells arts and crafts, and there's also a chattel-house museum, gardens and a restaurant located on the grounds of the house. One of Barbados's national treasures, the property is managed and maintained by the Barbados National Trust. Southeast of this location is the historic Garrison Savannah, where the British Empire maintained its Caribbean military headquarters from 1780 to 1905. It is an evocative place; the huge grassy savanna, today a racecourse and public park, was once the army's parade ground. The ranks of brightly colored buildings around its edge were all used for military purposes; a couple of them now house the Barbados Museum and the Barbados Gallery of Art, both of which deserve a visit for those who have an interest in the island's history and culture.
During the economic depression of the 1930s, unemployment escalated, living conditions deteriorated and riots broke out. To counteract the turmoil, the British Colonial Welfare and Development Office was established, to provide sizeable sums of money for Barbados and other Caribbean colonies. To ward off the growing political unrest, the British reluctantly gave black reformers a role in the political process. One of those reformers, Grantley Adams, became the first premier of Barbados a decade later and was eventually knighted by the queen.
Barbados gained self-government in 1961 and full independence in 1966. The head of the government is the Prime Minister. The legislative body is the Parliament. It is made up of the House of Assembly, which is elected by a popular vote system, and the Senate, which is appointed by the government. Barbados is a member of the British Commonwealth, and they recognize the British monarch, represented by the governor-general, as the head of state.
By the 1970s Barbados gained greater popularity and by the early 1990s visitors not only traveled to the island during the traditional ‘high’ or winter season, but also during the less trafficked period of July through August, mainly due to the island’s extremely well promoted festival, Crop Over. Today, over a million visitors come to Barbados each year, half of which are cruise ship passengers.
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