Bridgetown

This article describes the capital of Barbados; see Bridgetown (disambiguation) for further meanings .

Bridgetown
Coordinates	13 ° 5 '46 "  N , 59 ° 36' 30"  W Coordinates: 13 ° 5 '46 "  N , 59 ° 36' 30"  W.
Basic data
Country	Barbados
Parish	Saint Michael
height	4 m
surface	40 km²
Residents	110,000 (2014)
density	2750  Ew. / km²
founding	1628
Culture
Twin cities	Wilmington Bridgetown Hackney (London)
Downtown aerial view

The city of Bridgetown [ ˈbrɪdʒtaʊn ] in Parish Saint Michael is the capital of the Caribbean island state of Barbados and also its main port and economic center. Originally the city was called Indian Bridge , after a bridge over what is now called Constitution River , which was built in Indian times . The city was founded by the British in 1628. The residents live mainly from tourism , but also produce sugar , rum and molasses .

Bridgetown, National Heroes Square, Parliament Buildings

Chamberlain Bridge over Careenage, Arch of Independence

City center

Nelson Monument overlooking Broad Street

The mouth of the Constitution River is now a marina. He is in the center of the city as Careenage called because here early sailing ships careened were (ger .: careening to clean) to the hulls. National Heroes Square (formerly: Trafalgar Square ) is located directly on Careenage , the central square of the city, where the law of Barbados has to fly the flag of Barbados every day from six in the morning to six in the evening . The Parliament Buildings (formerly: Public Buildings ), the seat of the two chambers of the Barbadian parliament, can also be found here. In the center of the square is the Nelson monument, which was inaugurated in 1813 and is almost 30 years older than the Nelson Column in London. At Heroes Square begins with the Broad Street the main commercial street of Bridgetown, on which department stores are small shops and banks with international menu.

In Bridgetown there are also some important buildings of British colonial architecture. Mention should be made here of the old Barbados Mutual Building , the Anglican St. Michael's Cathedral , the grounds of Harrison College and St. Anne's Garrison . The entire old town of Bridgetown, along with the garrison, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011 .

Others

• On the outskirts of the city is the Kensington Oval , the largest stadium in Barbados.
• In 2007 the album Good Girl Gone Bad was recorded in a studio in Bridgetown .
• In 2010 the boxing world championships , in 2004 the women's Pan American Cup and in 2001 the NORCECA championship took place in Bridgetown.
• Bridgetown Grantley Adams International Airport opened in 1939 and is located approximately 8 miles east of Bridgetown.
• The city is the seat of the Catholic diocese of Bridgetown and the Anglican diocese of the same name.

sons and daughters of the town

• Arthur Barclay (1854–1938), President of Liberia
• Chester Gill (1928–2003), jazz saxophonist and composer
• Kamau Brathwaite (1930–2020), poet and writer
• Ken Farnum (1931-2020), cyclist
• Harry Beckett (1935-2010), trumpeter and flugelhorn player
• Peter Jackson (1949–2011), British computer scientist
• Grandmaster Flash (* 1958), hip-hop pioneer, DJ
• Sue Gardner (* 1967), journalist
• Obadele Thompson (* 1976), track and field athlete and Olympic medalist
• Ramon Gittens (* 1987), athlete
• Rihanna (* 1988), pop singer
• Ryan Brathwaite (* 1988), track and field athlete and World Cup gold medalist
• Darren Matthews (* 1991), racing cyclist
• Darian King (born 1992), tennis player
• Amber Joseph (* 1999), British-Barbadian cyclist
• Thierry Gale (* 2002), soccer player

Town twinning

• Wilmington , USA (2004)
• Bridgetown , Canada (2004)
•  United Kingdom London Borough of Hackney , United Kingdom

Web links

Commons : Bridgetown  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Bridgetown  - explanations of meanings, origins of words, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Entry on the website of the UNESCO World Heritage Center ( English and French ).
2. ^ Diocese of Bridgetown
3. ↑ http://www.foreign.gov.bb/articles.cfm?article=15 . As of March 24, 2008.
4. ↑ http://www.foreign.gov.bb/articles.cfm?article=13 . As of March 24, 2008.
5. ↑ ( Memento of the original from June 24, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . As of March 24, 2008.