Bridgetown is a port town and capital of Barbados and a World Heritage site pulling in cultural tourism to this vacation destination.
Its central business district is the national center serving as the primary focus for major office, parliamentary, and shopping services for the island. The Garrison is one of 8 Cultural Heritage Conservation Areas on the island and represents a very distinguished era of military colonial history. Within the precincts of this site, there are 115 listed buildings. The combination of Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison represents a worthy collection of history, colonial and vernacular architecture, and good elements of the art and science of town planning.
On June 25, 2011, Barbados joined an elite group of nations with World Heritage properties when Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. This inscription is a tremendous feat for a small Caribbean island state. It presented the opportunity to address the obvious geographical imbalance in sites from Latin American and the Caribbean.
To better understand all that Barbados has to offer, visitors may want to start with the islands’ museums.
Four Of The Islands Most Unique Museums
Undoubtedly, Barbados is an island interspersed with history and Caribbean culture that abounds in every respect. Several museums on this “Gem of the Caribbean Sea” chronicle the history that still permeates our everyday lives and can be seen in our festivals like Crop Over, our Soca and Spouge music genres and even our food in meals like souse or cou cou and flying fish. Overflowing with customs and cultural practices, Barbadians have worked both individually and collectively to establish heritage reserves for as many pieces of Barbados’ history as possible.
Jens Thraenhart, Chief Executive Officer of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) shared:
“There are a few museums that offer very unique ways to connect with our traditions, practices, and ways of life in times past and present.”
Barbados Exchange Museum
The Barbados Exchange Museum is the island’s largest interactive center within the UNESCO World Heritage site of Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison. This in itself will tell you that it is a museum that bustles with activity as persons from all over the island come to learn about the intriguing history of trade and banking in the aforementioned capital city. Even the building of the Barbados Exchange Museum is a relic of an 18th-century building that has undergone modern restoration.
The Cricket Legends of Barbados
The Cricket Legends of Barbados Museum is a place cricket connoisseurs call home. The community museum has a fitting location in Fontabelle, St. Michael as it is adjacent to Kensington Oval where legendary cricket matches have been held throughout the years. The Museum highlights the excitement first felt when watching the Greats like Wes Hall, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge, and the decorated Sir Garfield Sobers, who over the last century, represented not only their islands but the entire region, and a treasure trove of related memorabilia can be found at the museum.
The Caribbean Wax Museum
A Wax Museum is a collection of life-like wax sculptures depicting famous and historically significant people. After 11 years in the making, the Caribbean finally has one of its own. The only Wax Museum native to the Latin American and Caribbean regions, it was the product of Barbadian artist and sculptor Arthur Edwards along with his business partner, Frances Ross.
Barbados Museum and Historical Society
If there is any item on this list you would expect to be found on our UNESCO World Heritage Site, it would be the ‘Barbados Museum’, as it is affectionately abridged to. The Barbados Museum and Historical Society as it is formally called is a non-profit, private organization, with a membership of over 1,00 individuals and companies who share an interest in the Museum’s collections.
These four very different, dynamic museums represent a diverse offering of historic content, from sports to commerce, and each has a unique historical point of view to share with those who visit.
