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Bridgetown Travel Guide

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Bridgetown, originally called 'Indian Bridge', is the capital and commercial centre of Barbados, with about 80,000 inhabitants. It is a busy port with a natural harbour inlet, known as the Careenage, and is well utilised by pleasure craft and fishing boats. The main street, Broad Street, is where one finds banks, department stores and duty-free shops. At the top of Broad Street is the Parliament Building (the Barbados Parliament is the third oldest in the Commonwealth, dating from 1639), facing National Heroes Square. Opposite the Gothic parliamentary building is a grand statue of Lord Nelson, which, having been erected in 1813, is older than the one in Trafalgar Square in London. Barbados' colonial military history is well represented at the Barbados Garrison, the 18th-century base of the British Windward and Leeward Islands Command. This elegant Georgian building, dating from 1802, is the headquarters of the Garrison Committee who are unearthing the numerous old cannons scattered around the island; about 400 have so far been found in gardens, cellars, beaches or buried beneath fortifications. The most important pieces from this collection are mounted in front of the Main Guard House and make a fine photographic display for visitors. The Garrison complex also features the Barbados Museum, which is housed in the old military detention barracks - the display galleries were once prison cells. The museum houses exhibits chronicling the natural history and arts and crafts of Barbados. Another attraction in Bridgetown is a massive Baobab tree (said to have been brought to the island from Guinea, Africa around 1738). It takes 15 adults with outstretched arms to encircle the trunk.