Map of Castries
Last updated: October 2007

Capital City of Castries named after the Marechal de Castries; a French minister of the Marine. We’re in the Derek Walcott Square, formally called Columbus Square. It was renamed after our second Nobel Prize winner from St Lucia. That’s right; this little island nation boasts two Nobel Laureates. Sir Arthur Lewis for Economics and Derek Walcott for literature in 1993.

The Square is in the heart of the city nestled between the uniquely ornate Roman Catholic Cathedral built in 1897 and the Castries Central Library. Here you may also stroll in amongst some of the oldest French colonial architechture remaining in the capital. Castries suffered two very debilitating fires in recent history almost leveling the town and crippling the island.

Today she is a bustling Centre with a natural harbour welcoming several cruise lines from around the world. Offering excellent shopping in the town market for fresh produce and arts and crafts, Duty Free centres and even a glimps at the process of the fine art of silk screening. The cool shade of this 400 year old Samaan tree is far too tempting.

A little bit of its history: Castries is the capital, commercial center and main cruise port of St Lucia.

The town was founded by the French in about 1768 under the name Car'nage and renamed after a French official in 1785. The earlier settlement across the harbor at Vigie, started in 1651, was abandoned after the devastating hurricane of 1780.

From 1803 to 1844 the British made the town a major naval port and built fortifications on Morne Fortune, the mountain which overlooks this important harbor. By 1844, Castries had a population of 4,000. By the end of the century it had become a major coaling station, because it was the only port in the Caribbean capable of holding the whole British navy.

During WWII, a German U-boat sailed into Castries harbor and sank two allied ships. Castries suffered major fires in 1796, 1813, 1927 and 1948 which have shaped its development.

If you would like to view satellite image of Castries go to: Google Maps