The island capital was named in 1785 after Maréchal de Castries, then Minister of the Marine responsible for the French colonies. Another 18th-century Maréchal, de Laborie, established the circular coastal road that travels round the southern two-thirds of the island. You will probably take it to visit St. Lucia’s most spectacular sights, the Soufrière volcano and the Pitons, not to be missed on any visit to the island. If you go by car, it’s wise to hire a local driver familiar with all the hair-raising bends, though other alternatives are by boat on a pleasant day’s cruise, or on an organised tour.
Castries
Few buildings remain from the 18th century, mainly due to two devastating fires which swept the town in 1948 and 1951. Today’s city, with over a third of the island’s inhabitants looks dilapidated in places, though some quarters have a certain charm. Take a look at the scenic yacht basin and the lively, ultra-modern Pointe Seraphine duty-free shopping complex at the harbour. Just across the way, the market for food and charcoal, which is used for cooking fuel, hums with activity in the morning. There’s plenty of island produce for sale, the array varying with the season.
Along Bridge Street, you’ll find the central post office and the largest shops. Derek Walcott Square, one of the capital’s few picturesque corners, boasts tropical greenery; a venerable saman or rain tree casts its shade. The square is named after the 1992 Nobel Prize winner for Literature, who has founded a retreat for artists and writers on nearby Rat Island.
The Catholic cathedral (19th-century) has wooden columns, iron vaulting and frescoes by a pupil of the French artist Puvis de Chavannes. Opposite stands a red and white structure in stucco and stone, the Central Library, surely the most handsome building in town. It also dates from the 19th century but looks much older, and is officially named after its benefactors, the Carnegies.
Castries may be lacking in charm, but the capital is backed by its own mountain, Morne Fortuné, which means “Lucky Hill”. A drive to the top up steep roads leads to the 18th-century Fort Charlotte, an unremarkable military installation redeemed by good views. Both the French and the British conducted their squabbles from the ramparts.
Three more military buildings were erected on Morne Fortune in the middle of the 19th century. Restored, they now form part of the island’s principal educational complex. But you can still see many reminders of the British and French forces who fought each other for ownership of St. Lucia, such as the Inniskilling Monument commemorating the British capture of Morne Fortune in 1796.
Government House, the residence of the Governor General, is an attractive Victorian building on Morne Fortune, together with St. Lucia’s small historical museum. From this hill you also have a sweeping view of Castries harbour, Vigie peninsula, Pigeon Island and the Pitons.
Towards the North
Many of the island’s luxury hotels are situated to the north of Castries along a road as good as it is scenic. The hotels are friendly places and they admit non-residents for drinks, meals or a swim. In the area are sparkling crescent-shaped beaches, including Vigie Beach, Choc Beach and Gros Islet. A short distance inland from Choc Bay, the Union nature trail includes a sports and leisure centre and a small zoo with St. Lucian parrots.
A causeway links Pigeon Island to the mainland. Noted for its high, green hill, it is a National Park, once the hideout of a French pirate and today the setting for St. Lucia’s annual Jazz Festival held each May. You can see Martinique to the north. The islet was the main base of Admiral Rodney in the 18th century, and the name probably comes from his hobby of breeding pigeons. The Pigeon Island Museum in the refurbished Officer’s Mess traces the island’s inhabitants from Amerindians to pirates to whaling men. A multi-media show recreates the 1782 Battle of the Saintes in which the British trounced the French and gained control of the Caribbean.
Exploring the South
Just south of Castries, you pass Cul de Sac Bay, a sheltered, aptly named harbour lined with banana plants — St. Lucia’s biggest agricultural product. Next comes Marigot Bay, a palm-fringed spot with several hotels and restaurants.
Farther along are more attractive and isolated bays and beaches: Anse la Raye, where local people make boats from gum trees and sails from flour bags; Anse Cochon (French for pig) and the little fishing village of Canaries.
By land or by sea, the sight of the Pitons will take your breath away. Postcards can give no more than an idea of the majestic beauty of these volcanic mountains — Gros Piton 799 metres (2,619 feet) and Petit Piton 750 metres (2,460 feet). Typically West Indian with its brightly painted arcaded buildings, Soufrière town nestles just under the twin mountains. It may look unspoiled, but the locals have seen all too many tour groups. Although official guides and the police formally discourage begging, you may be assailed by self-styled guides, their palms held out for money, or little boys who forget school to dive naked for coins.
Follow the road leading to the renovated Diamond Mineral Baths, situated just outside town. The sulphurous springs were discovered by the French, and in 1784, Maréchal de Laborie, then in command of the island, sent samples to Paris. They were analysed by Louis XVI’s doctors, who pronounced the water to be beneficial. Upon this favourable news, the original baths were constructed.
For a small fee, you can enjoy the same pleasurable steamy effects experienced in de Laborie’s day. Botanical gardens and tropical forest make up part of the estate. A path leads to the boiling hot source, and, beyond, to a lovely waterfall and pond.
From the baths take the twisting road to Sulphur Springs, advertised as the world’s only drive-in volcano. And so it is. The road goes right up to the crater, steaming away like an inferno. Competent guides lead you quickly over the hot stones and through the noxious sulphur gases to an untouchable black pit. Efforts are being made to harness the steam energy for island use. Some of the rocks are coloured green by copper deposits, white by lime and chalk and yellow by sulphur.
In case you’re apprehensive, remember that no one ever worries about this dormant volcano erupting violently, since anything that lets off so much steam probably won’t blow up for a while. This line of reasoning may not be scientific, but it sounds convincing to anybody who has used a pressure cooker.
Again take the road leading south and head for Choiseul and Laborie, two ramshackle but photogenic villages surrounded by splendid vegetation. You’ll see men with machetes harvesting bananas, cocoa, citrus fruit, coconuts, peanuts, sweet potatoes or cabbage.
The road levels out as it reaches Vieux Fortand the international Hewanorra Airport. The airport’s name has its origin in a Carib word meaning “Land of the Iguana”. The numbers of these large lizards, harmless until attacked, have dwindled. You’re unlikely to see one, unless you climb a mountain or stay at one of the hotels that keep a pet iguana in a cage.
A picturesque lighthouse stands on Moule à Chique cape. On a clear day the view from here is spectacular. Out to sea, you’ll glimpse the island of St Vincent. Look inland, across St. Lucia, and you’ll see the Pitons. The seemingly endless Atlantic beach north of the cape is well whipped by winds and decorated with a glossy hotel.
As you travel up the east coast, you’ll find the circular road somewhat easier going, not that there isn’t plenty to keep a driver alert - whether children on their way home from school or cows, donkeys and sheep wandering on the road. Headlands project into the ocean, and there are two little towns to explore, Micoud and Dennery. Inland rises Mt Gimie, the highest point on the island at 950 metres (3,117 feet). Dennery earned renown as a den of iniquity, and until the 1950s apart of town called Oléon (or Aux Lyons) was closed to outsiders. Townsfolk made an illegal brew known as mal cochon, and they were so belligerent in the defense of their privacy that even the police were reluctant to interfere.
From Dennery the road winds back across the island to Castries.
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