Brief description:
Area: 430 sq. m. km
Population: 279 thousand people.
Capital: Bridgetown
Highest point: Mount Hillaby (340 m)
Official language: English
The dominant religion: Christianity
Currency: Barbadian dollar
Government type: constitutional republic
Phone code: 1246
Code TLD (domain):. Bb
The beaches on the "Platinum Coast", coral reefs, wineries with antique recipe rum production, traditional carnivals. For the majority of tourists visiting the island, Barbados - a paradise on earth. Caressing sun and warm sea, endless beaches and green fields, abundant historical sites associated with the settlement of the islands by Europeans, and especially the heyday of piracy, cultural and sporting events, make this island a priceless jewel in the crown of the Caribbean islands. Known around the world as "Little England", the island has absorbed the traditions of British Empire - from the famous afternoon tea supplied in many hotels to the islanders love to golf, polo and cricket.
Arecreation barbados
Barbados, one of the most picturesque islands in the Lesser Antilles chain of islands, was discovered by Portuguese sailors in 1536. Huge banyans with roots that form around the base of a real beard, and gave the island its name - "Los Barbados" (translated as "bearded"). By the beginning of the development of this piece of land by the British (1627 g) island, strangely enough, was uninhabited. Settlers break here vast sugar plantations, flourished until 1834, when the abolition of slavery undermined this region's traditional economy. But until the mid-XX century, the production of sugar, rum and molasses were virtually the only growing sector of the local economy. It was only at the end of XX booming tourism has given additional impetus to the development of the island, making it one of the most beautiful resort areas in the western hemisphere. Caressing sun and warm sea, endless beaches and coral reefs, green fields and wineries, plenty of historical monuments and traditional carnivals, many places connected with the era heyday of piracy, as well as a plethora of cultural and sporting events, make this island one of the true gems Caribbean. Bridgetown The capital of Barbados, the commercial center of the island and one of the major free ports in the Caribbean, Bridgetown lies on the Gulf of Carlisle, the only natural harbor of the island. A small town with a population of only 80,000 people, Bridgetown is a picturesque town with houses in a style that is a mixture of colonial and contemporary trends, with narrow alleys, rum shops and monumental obelisks. Here are the seat of government and major corporate offices. City Centre - Trafalgar Square Skve or "Heroes' Square", which is almost a complete copy of the eponymous square in London, there's even a statue of Lord Nelson (set March 22, 1813 g, that is, a few years earlier than the similar statue in London). With an area of scenic views of the harbor Kerineydzh - a long, thin tongue of water slid right in the city center, parking lot numerous yachts and cruise ships. East of "Heroes' Square" is a large Anglican Cathedral of St. Michael (1786-1789 years). Cathedral Cemetery is the last refuge of many prominent figures of the island. To the east of the cathedral is Queen's Park, where the baobab tree grows, the age of 1,000 years old. The park is also interesting theater "Queens Park House" (in the past - the residence of the commander of the British forces). Gothic Parliament building stands in Barbados beginning of the main street - Broad Street. Barbados Parliament was established in 1639 and is the g, so the third oldest Parliament in the British Commonwealth. Network of narrow alleys of the old part of the city connects Broad Street above the Houses of Parliament, marking the oldest part of Bridgetown. The oldest building in Bridgetown - office attorney Harford-Chambers, with its rough masonry and classic Dutch gables, is located here. There is also interesting fountain (1865), which was presented to the city by John Montefiore (one of the wealthy Jewish merchants mid-XIX century), as well as pink and white Synagogue (1833, the first synagogue was built on this site in 1655.) Also worth visiting is the Garrison Barracks (XVII) with an excellent museum, fort the St Ann (1705 g), the tower of Main Guard (1803), a well-preserved fortification system and many old tools. A whole series of old barracks, framing the ground, or as it is called here - Savannah, today occupied many cultural and entertainment venues, among them especially attractive to Barbados Museum with a rich collection of historical and Art Gallery of Barbados. Barbados Museum is both a research center on the basis of which the Historical Society. The museum's research library has rare materials of the West Indies since the XVII century to nashmh days - books, maps, manuscripts and archival documents totaling more than 160,000 volumes. The main shopping area of the city is all on the same Broad Street, which starts at Heroes' Square, and is a series of banks, department stores and duty free shops. Also famous for its shopping streets in Swan Street, Rebak Street and Tudor Street, private shops and street stalls Fudstalls and numerous rum shops on Baxter Road, which locals call "the street that never sleeps." Across the harbor spanned by two bridges - Chamberlain Bridge and Charles O "Neal Bridge, which you can get to the two major urban markets - Fairchild-Market and Cheapside Market, lying in the northern part of the city. And at Temple Yard is another local attraction - the colorful street market Rastafarian. Outside the city also has many interesting places - Bayshor shopping mall with lots of shops and antique shops, a few rum factories north of the capital, including the well-known Gay-Rum Factory on Spring Garden Highway with a small museum of Roma. Also, all visitors to the city usually show Tayrol estate-Cat, which has been the home of two leading political figures of the island after the war, Sir Grantley Adams and his son, Tom Adams. Around Tayrol Cote stretches tiny historic village of 6 old houses built on different projects, and a few shops with products of traditional crafts, typical rum shop and a small cafe. Also noteworthy original Botanical Garden Flower Forest area of 50 acres near the St Joseph (20 km northeast of the capital), Francia Plantation south of Gun Hill (plantation estate is considered one of the most attractive places on the island, it is also one of the last buildings of the island built in the late nineteenth century, when the plantations were already in decline) with a superb collection of old maps of Barbados and the Caribbean and a huge terraced garden, the fire tower (1818) on Gun Hill with a small military museum and a small canyon to Uelchman north of France, full of the local flora and fauna. East Coast Stormy, little explored by tourists east coast - the most beautiful part of Barbados. All year round the Atlantic waves beat on this wild coast, creating excellent conditions for surfing and walking on moth erosion cliffs Hekklton Cliff, through lush rainforest, Andromeda Botanical Gardens. Although the coastal scenery around Beth and Martins Bay - the main attraction of these places, there are a few places that are worth a visit - especially yourself Andromeda Gardens, Botanical Gardens, created by local botanist Bannochi Iris, a small resort town of Bathsheba, and many excellent restaurants around He, quiet coves near Codrington College, with its wonderful theological school at the top of the cliff above the bay Consett, a 300-meter cliff slope Hekklton Cliff and rocky hills of Scotland County, nostalgically named by the first settlers for their similarity to the land of Robert Burns, and the Gothic church District of Saint John (1836).