This month's World Heritage Site...

New Heritage Site’s Settlers Were Heading for Virginia But Chose Bermuda Instead

Bermuda’s former capital, the town of St. George's

By Patrick Totty

Bermuda, 500 miles east of the Carolinas and smack in the middle of the Gulf Stream’s balmy flow, has never had trouble attracting visitors from all over the world. The 20-mile long hook-shaped island offers subtropical weather, great golfing and sailing, and a veddy British culture embraced by a very civil society of citizens descended from Africans and Europeans.

Adding recent distinction to the island was last November’s announcement by UNESCO that it has added Bermuda’s former capital, the town of St. George's and its nearby fortifications, to its list of World Heritage Sites. The honor adds St. George's to an exclusive list of historical, cultural and natural sites, such as the Taj Mahal and Yellowstone National Park, that are deemed to have global significance.

Founded in 1612, St. George's is the fourth oldest European-founded municipality in the Western Hemisphere. Originally named New London, it was settled in part by passengers on a ship that had been bound for Jamestown, Virginia, several years before, but has decided to make permanent landfall in Bermuda. A fort to defend the island (which the Spanish had discovered more than 100 years before but had never claimed) soon sprang up near the town site.

UNESCO cited the town’s collection of well-preserved 17^th, 18^th and 19^th century colonial architecture, as well as its intact fortifications that graphically illustrate the evolution of British military engineering over a four-century span.

To reap the benefits of World Heritage status, Bermuda plans to revitalize St. George's while ensuring that nothing is done to jeopardize the unique historical character of the site.  Already, plans for a Heritage Visitor Centre, restoration of town streets and a waterfront development are in the works.