United Kingdom
St. George, Bermuda
The Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda is the earliest example of an English colonial town in the New World.
It consists of the Town of St George and fortifications on small islands commanding access to the Town and the harbour. Permanent settlement here began in 1612. The forts are authentic examples of the first defensive works built by early European colonists.
Community Perspective: the town is very quaint and looks a bit like an open-air museum for tourists. The best of the forts is Fort St. Catherine, which houses an interesting museum.
Site Info
Official Information
- Full Name
- The Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda (ID: 983)
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Status
-
Inscribed 2000
Site history
History of St. George, Bermuda
- WHS Type
- Cultural
- Criteria
- iv
Links
- UNESCO
- whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
- whc.unesco.org — whc.unesco.org/
Related Resources
- bermuda-online.org — Bermuda Online
- bnt.bm — Bermuda's heritage is guerded by the Bermuda National Trust
News Article
- Nov. 18, 2020 royalgazette.com — St George World Heritage Centre to close for good
- July 29, 2009 royalgazette.com — Bermuda celebrates 400th today with the opening of a World Heritage Centre
Community Information
- Community Category
- Urban landscape: Colonial
Travel Information
Recent Connections
-
Located in a TCC Territory
Bermuda -
INTO Places Program
Several sitesSee bnt.bm
-
Cultural sites closely connected to volcanoes
The city is built on a volcanic island.…
Connections of St. George, Bermuda
- Geography
-
-
Atlantic Ocean
At St. George's Harbour, open to the Atlantic Ocean at Gunner Bay -
Isolated WHS
1200 kms from Independence Hall -
Dependent territories
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean.
-
- Trivia
-
-
On Banknotes
The 50 Bermuda dollar bill shows St. Peters church in St. George -
Built or owned by British
-
Cultural sites closely connected to volcanoes
The city is built on a volcanic island. -
Cultural sites taking up an entire island
Castle Island Fortifications
-
- History
-
-
Located in a Former Capital
(1612 - 1815)
-
- Architecture
-
-
Neoclassical architecture
Ebenezer Methodist Church of 1840
-
- World Heritage Process
-
-
Inscribed on a single criterion only
iv. to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history
-
- Constructions
-
-
Hospitals
military hospital -
Sites of Parliament
The State House (1620) in St. George's was the first purpose-built home of the House of Assembly, which then constituted the only chamber of the Parliament of Bermuda (wiki)See en.wikipedia.org
-
- WHS on Other Lists
-
-
Located in a TCC Territory
Bermuda -
INTO Places Program
Several sitesSee bnt.bm
-
UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories
Bermuda - UK
-
- Timeline
-
-
Built in the 17th century
settled in 1612
-
- WHS Names
-
-
Named after Queen Victoria
"Fort Victoria" is listed on the UNESCO Web site as location 983-017 (out of 24) despite this comment in the AB review "the integrity of Fort Victoria has been compromised by its conversion to a hotel recreation facility so that it no longer retains the authenticity necessary for inclusion on the World Heritage List" -
Named after individual people
Bermuda was named after the Spanish navigator/explorer Juan de Bermudez who discovered it 1503. St George's was named in honour of the founder of the Bermuda colony, Admiral Sir George Somers
-
News
- royalgazette.com 11/18/2020
- St George World Heritage Centre to…
- royalgazette.com 07/29/2009
- Bermuda celebrates 400th today wit…
Recent Visitors
Reserved for members.Community Reviews
Show full reviews
I recently amended my WHS coverage strategy from purely looking for the hotspots to also going out of my way twice a year for a difficult/expensive WHS (expecting that when I get older I will have more time to travel, but physical challenges will get harder and the money less easily replenished). An odd one among the latter set of WHS is St. George, Bermuda – one of our most isolated WHS (it’s 1,200km from Independence Hall). The island group of Bermuda is not a particularly hard destination to reach, but it is mostly visited from the US or via a cruise. From Europe, there’s only one British Airways flight a day. And it surely ticks the “expensive” box: start from the UK price level, add a logistical surcharge as most things have to be flown in, take the cruise ship price inflation into account, and finally the American-style 15-20% tipping. In the end, this ‘tick’ cost me some 1,500 EUR.
The WHS is located on and around one of the northernmost islands of the Bermuda archipelago: St. George Island. The town is known as “St. George’s” (short for St. George’s Town), but it seems to have lost its “’s” in the official WHS name: The Historic Town of St. George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda. Note also the addition of “Bermuda” at the end – there are so many towns called St. George around the world that the Bermudians probably wanted it to be clear that their St. George …
Keep reading 0 comments
St. George is known as the oldest continuously inhabited English settlement in the New World, and it is to the English-speaking Americas what Santo Domingo is to the Spanish-speaking part - the site of many "first" and "oldest" superlatives. E.g., St. Peter's Church is the oldest Anglican and Protestant Church in the Western Hemisphere. The State House dates from 1620 and is the oldest building on the islands. The capital was moved to Hamilton in the early 19th century, and today St. George is very quiet and looks a bit like an open-air museum for tourists. It is very well preserved and does a lot to highlight its WH status. Included in the site are several fortifications, some of which are just a short walk from the town and can be visited. The best of these is Fort St. Catherine, which houses a very interesting museum. I also went to nearby Alexandra Battery and Gates Fort, both of which can be visited easily in a pleasant walk from St. George. There is also a fine museum on Bermudian history in the Royal Naval Dockyard on the other end of the island, but this is not part of the WHS. Bermuda is mostly visited by Americans and Canadians, and there is only one flight connection to Europe (British Airways to London). I went there for a short stopover of 3 days after a trip to the US, which was very pleasant and convenient. Otherwise, it could easily be visited on one …
Keep reading 0 comments
For an Atlantic island, Bermuda feels much more like the Caribbean, and the related fortifications reflect as much. This small yet lovely island is usually crawling with tourists, but that's no problem. There always seems to be some corner with the solitude and charm that Bermuda exudes.
Keep reading 0 comments
The Town of St. George is very quaint and the townspeople are very welcoming. The place is filled with old world English charm with its cobblestone streets and old buildings. The related fortifications entail the forts that surround St. George. Some of them are not accessible to the public, but my husband and I managed to visit Fort St. Catherine, Fort George, Alexandra Battery and Gate's Fort. These places are walking distance from the town.
We visited Bermuda for four nights, which was enough time for me. December 2006 was when we were there and it was not very busy with tourists. Personally, I quite liked it this way and I still enjoyed pleasant weather!
Keep reading 0 comments