Even if you don’t normally visit castles and military history and armaments don’t excite you, it’s still worth it to visit the amazing Brimstone Hill Fortress in St. Kitts, if only for the incredible views it affords in every direction.
Overlooking the western coast of St Kitts, Brimstone Hill enables visitors to see St Eustatius and Saba to the north, Basseterre to the south, and the island’s highest point, Mount Liamuiga, to the east.
Brimstone Hill was begun in 1690, but was taken by a force of 8,000 French soldiers in 1782. The fortress was returned to British control by treaty a year later. They immediately added more walls and guns and the fortress was never taken again. The importance of the fortress declined as tensions eased between Britain and France and as the importance of sugar cane decreased.
I enjoyed scrambling around this amazing garrison and discovering why it was given the name “The Gibraltar of the Caribbean”. There are gun emplacements, ruined barracks (with a ghost), impenetrable powder rooms, hidden stairs, and vast curtain walls to explore.
Julian has written travel articles for The Toronto Globe and Mail, Fate Magazine, National Catholic Register, and Northwest Travel. He has also contributed to travel websites like, In The Know Traveler, Go Nomad, InTravelmag and Go World Travel. He has also taken many photographs that have appeared in travel guides by National Geographic, Thomas Cook and The Rough Guides. Examples of his work can be found at http://www.photographersdirect.com/sellers/details.asp?portfolio=13734
