St. John's

St. John's is the capital of Antigua and Barbuda, on a harbor on the northwest coast of the island of Antigua. The white baroque towers of St. John's Cathedral rise above the city.

A few houses stood on a cove of the harbor before the town was laid out, and an act of 1668 provided for building a town on the bay. In 1675 the legislature named it one of the places of trade of the island, and it soon matched Falmouth in size. St. John's was the seat of the British Leeward Islands colony from the 18th century until the colony ended, and after a fire in the 1760s its center was rebuilt. The cathedral, first built in wood, was rebuilt in stone in the 1840s with towers of a style rare in the Caribbean.

Cruise ships dock several times a week at Heritage Quay, where duty-free shops line the waterfront, and Redcliffe Quay keeps old stone warehouses turned into shops and restaurants. Fishing boats unload their catch at the market near the harbor, where fruit and vegetables from the farms of the island are sold.

The Museum of Antigua and Barbuda, in the old courthouse of the 1750s, shows the island from its Arawak settlers to independence. The Antigua Recreation Ground, the national stadium, has staged test cricket for decades, and Viv Richards, the West Indies batsman, was born in St. John's. The Botanical Gardens, near the cathedral, keep tropical trees and plants in the center of the city. Antigua Carnival fills the streets with costume bands and calypso each summer.