BBC – Travel – Port Royal, Jamaica: The wickest city on Earth?

At 08:09 am on January 20, 2020, an event occurred that many Jamaicans believed they would never see. For the first time in 40 years, a cruise ship docked in the historic Port of Kingston. An innovative new floating dock sprawled and welcomed 2,000 smiling guests on the island, with the formidable Marella Discovery 2 dwarfing everything else on the horizon as they departed.

Port Royal role[ed] In a deranged haven for alcohol, money and sex

It was a moment of pride for Kingston and its people, something that has long been talked about but never paid off, thanks in large part to political wrangling and Port Royal’s lack of development. Arrival also marks a bright new chapter in the eventful history of Port Royal, a history known to many Jamaicans but rarely talked about outside its shores.

While Port Royal is now a relatively quiet fishing village at the end of a 29-kilometer-long strip of sand that stretches from Kingston, its reputation in the late 17th century was so infamous that it was considered by many to be “the wicked city on Earth”. Under the control of the Spanish for more than 150 years due to its strategic location, Jamaica was attacked by the English expeditionary force in 1655 and soon turned into a profitable property. However, the lack of English manpower meant that to protect the island, the then governor, Edward de Oele, had to enlist an alliance of pirates and pirates.

This, along with the fortunes brought in from the slave trade, sugar and timber, saw Port Royal turn into a fickle haven for alcohol, money and sex. The city became famous for a quarter of its buildings as either a tavern or a brothel, and its fortune quickly grew, and the greedy taste of excess and immorality became the stuff of legend. By attracting famous maritime names of this era such as Captain Henry Morgan, they attacked and plundered the poorly defended Spanish ports in the area (Morgan himself led violent looting of Panama City and Maracaibo) while quickly spending their fortunes on ridiculous lifestyles.

“These pirates were literally free to do what they like, as they were seen as defenders of Jamaica. Local historian Peter Gordon explained that the authorities had no choice but to leave them alone. Imagine a city where so much gold was born with these men of character. Doubtful, free to do whatever they want. The brothels, bars and churches were equal in number so you can imagine the harsh atmosphere that was in Port Royal. “

On the morning of June 7, 1692, this atmosphere and Port Royal itself changed forever. Two thousand lives died as a result of a massive earthquake that destroyed most of the city. Port Royal will never be the same.

“The earthquake devastated Port Royal and its land area, which was about 52 acres,” said Silvius Walters, Artistic Director of Archeology at the National Heritage Fund of Jamaica. “Nearly two-thirds were destroyed and inundated the port of Kingston. The earthquake destroyed buildings and many people died from collapsing walls. Nearly half of the population perished.”

The harrowing nature of the Port Royal story makes its lack of knowledge outside of Jamaica somewhat surprising. However, it is the original condition of the underwater remains of a former pirate city that makes the site truly remarkable. Located just meters below the surface of the water in an oxygen-depleting environment, the submerged ruins are a time capsule of everyday life in a 17th-century colonial coastal city.

“It is believed to be one of the best preserved underwater heritage sites in this hemisphere,” Walters said. It may be the only one of its kind in this part of the world. Therefore, it is very important not only for Jamaica, but for the world at large, that we protect and preserve this valuable heritage. “

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This ‘Caribbean Pompeii’ is in the process of potentially becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and this recognition will be warmly welcomed in a part of the world that is not yet sufficiently represented. But with her scandalous story and ties to the slave trade, are there any mixed feelings in Jamaica for Port Royal in 2020?

“The people of Port Royal have always been very proud of their heritage,” Gordon explained. “A lot of Jamaicans were enslaved Africans who evolved into skilled tradesmen, and some of their most skilled were actually here in Port Royal. We had evolved from slavery, but we actually created some of the most skilled craftsmen ever in this country. Port Royal was full of such people. And like their grandchildren, we are proud of our accomplishments. “

“It’s a very big part of the growth in Jamaica,” said Heather Pinnock, general manager of the Urban Development Corporation, the government department that oversees the redevelopment of the area. “Everyone learns the story of Port Royal. I think almost every child in Jamaica goes to Port Royal; it’s like a rite of passage.”

“Honoring the past and seeing the future” is the slogan that takes center stage at the Port Royal 2020 site. While the arrival of the cruise ships was a big moment, there is still a lot of work to be done if the city is to become the “world heritage and environmental and cultural attraction” that aims Project mechanism.

With a few quiet residential streets and a few bars, the Port Royal today is a far cry from its decadent past. The rust-orange walls and the prominent black cannons of Fort Charles from the colonial era are still alluring. While the charming Giddy House, a remnant of the 1907 Kingston earthquake at a 45-degree angle, is one of the most exotic Caribbean tourist attractions. However, the city currently lacks the infrastructure to handle the large numbers of visitors cruise ships promise to bring.

Special permission is required from the Jamaican authorities to dive and view the submerged ruins of the underwater city up close. While it can be arranged, the challenge is to make it a true attraction that will bring life to the infamous city story.

Port Royal’s sustainable future is a big part of Pinnock’s business, and a sunken city just won’t be a part of it. “You have a history but at the same time we respect biodiversity and really look to the future,” she explained. “The entire area has been designated an environmentally sensitive site, so there’s a lot that has been put together. It takes a lot of thought and careful planning.”

Home to fragile coral reefs and threatened marine creatures, Port Royal’s sustainable development goals include reducing marine pollution, ending subsidies that contribute to overfishing and reducing ocean acidification. These ambitious goals hope to be achieved by 2030 as part of a national drive towards sustainability, so it will be some time before anyone can judge their success.

Sharing space with coral reefs is the sunken city, and it is hoped that visitors will be able to engage with the submerged remains as part of the proposed historic itinerary that will include museums, interactive galleries and archaeological dig sites.

While Covid-19 has meant fewer visitor numbers for most of 2020, development has continued by leaps and bounds. With the promise of cruise ships on the horizon in 2021 and many visitors expecting to learn about its fascinating story, there is an opportunity for Port Royal to really put itself on the map. An opportunity was coming a long time ago.

Sunken Civilization is BBC’s travel series that explores mythical underwater worlds that seem too imaginative to exist today but are amazingly real.

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