Spanish Town

Built by the Spanish after Sevilla Nueva (New Seville) was abandoned, dates from 1534. It was first known as Villa de la Vega, later St. Jago de la Vega and then Spanish Town. The town is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Jamaica. It was the capital of Spanish Jamaica from1534 to 1655. When the English captured the island in 1655, Spanish Town remained the capital of the island until 1872 when this status was conferred on Kingston. Spanish Town still possesses memories of the past with its many historical buildings.

The Cathedral of St. Jago de la Vega. (Anglican Cathedral) Built in about 1525 on the site of the Spanish Chapel of the Red Cross, this Cathedral stands today as the oldest ecclesiastical structure in the British Empire (outside of the United Kingdom). When the British conquered the island from the Spanish in 1655, the English destroyed the existing cathedral, and built in its stead an Anglican church which was demolished by an earthquake in 1714. In 1843, the rebuilt Church was named the Cathedral of Anglican Diocese, in honour of the patron saint – St. James. This cathedral is built in the form of a cross. Constructed in brick, it reflects a Romanesque and a Gothic architectural style. The aisles are dotted with the tombstones of many notables in Jamaican history. Situated near to the House of Assembly and the Old King’s House, the St. James Cathedral is currently the chief church of the Anglican denomination in Jamaica and contains the earliest existing Anglican records some of which date back to 1668.

Rodney's Memorial

This elaborate edifice was created in honour of the celebrated British Admiral Lord Rodney. The Memorial, designed by the famous English sculptor John Bacon in 1801, commemorates Rodney’s victory over a French fleet that had attempted to invade the island in 1782. Our next stop will be the Phillippo Baptist Church. Rev. Phllippo built the Church in 1827 to replace an earlier one which he had built but which was burned to the ground by plantation owners (planters), who were vehemently opposed to the preaching of religion to slaves. Phillippo died in 1879 and is buried, with his wife and son, in the churchyard. There are two tablets in the Church building dedicated to his memory. Also located on the Church grounds is a stone slab which marks where some of the shackles of slavery are buried. The slab is inscribed to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Church. The Church was damaged during Hurricane Dean in 2007. The Church underwent significant restoration, reopening in June, 2009.