Port Royal (Jamaica)

Port Royal
Port Royal
Coordinates	17 ° 56 ′  N , 76 ° 50 ′  W Coordinates: 17 ° 56 ′  N , 76 ° 50 ′  W
Basic data
Country	Jamaica
county	Surrey
Parish	Kingston
Residents	2000
Historical map of Port Royal and Kingston Harbors

Port Royal was an important port city in Jamaica until it was completely destroyed by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami on June 7, 1692 , and most of it sank in the sea and in the quicksand it created .

history

Port Royal before and after the 1692 earthquake

The city was founded by the Spanish in 1518. During its heyday, Port Royal was a wealthy city, which was favored by its location for English privateers who were able to intercept the fully laden Spanish galleons on their way back from Panama to Spain. The most famous of these buccaneers was Henry Morgan , whose grave was in the local cemetery. The city was known for its immorality and loose morality at the same time. The successor port was Kingston Harbor.

The city was located on a headland on sandy ground that began to slide during the quake in 1692. Around 3000 people are said to have died, half of the population at the time.

Reconstruction attempts were made, but a fire in 1710 and several hurricanes in the following years prevented it from flourishing again. On January 14, 1907, the city was again partially destroyed by an earthquake, where again the headland slipped and many houses were destroyed. The city is now a fishing village with around 2000 inhabitants and no longer plays a special role.

Efforts are being made to declare the remains of Port Royal, which are sunken in the sea, a World Heritage Site . The Jamaican UNESCO delegation put the property on the tentative list in 2009 . however, the nomination for 2019 was rejected by the World Heritage Committee .

References in feature films

• Pirates of the Caribbean (2003-2017 film series) with Johnny Depp
• The Pirate Bride (1995) with Geena Davis
• James Bond - 007 is chasing Dr. No (1962) with Sean Connery
• The City Under the Sea (1953) with Anthony Quinn
• Battle for Pirate Treasure (1952) with Robert Newton
• The pirate (1942)
• Under Pirate Flag (1935) with Errol Flynn

References in computer games

• The Secret of Monkey Island
• Port Royale
• Port Royale 2
• Port Royale 3
• Sid Meier's Pirates!
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
• Kingdom Hearts 2
• Kingdom Hearts 3
• The Pirate: Caribbean Hunt
• Naval action

References in the literature

• Michael Crichton : Gold - Pirate Latitudes. Blessing, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-89667-402-9 .
• Yuna Kagesaki : Hekikai no Aion . Volume 6-7.
• Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa : Piratas. Plaza & Janes, Barcelona 1998, ISBN 84-01-49069-3 .
• Michael Peinkofer : The heirs of the black flag. Bastei-Lübbe, 2006, ISBN 3-404-15417-7 .

References in music

• The album Port Royal (1988) by the heavy metal band Running Wild
• The song Times Change by the new wave band New Order on their album Republic (1993)
• In the play Blake's Landgang - Pt. 3 of the band Mr. Hurley & the Powder Monkeys , prison officials explain to Captain Blake that taxpayers from Port Royal have been kidnapped to Tortuga

See also

• List of sea ports

Web links

Commons : Port Royal  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• The Port Royal Project. Historical research project
• The sunken pirate town. Extensive documentary film on the National Geographic Channel

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Port Royal - The world's best-researched underwater city Focus Online.
2. ↑ The Underwater City of Port Royal on the UNESCO website, accessed September 5, 2013 (English)