About St. Catherine

The largest parish in Jamaica, St Catherine is one of the most rapidly expanding areas of the island. The parish features the growing ‘Sunshine

Community’, Portmore, which has about 170,000 residents. St Catherine also has the distinction of being home to the island’s first capital – Spanish

Town or Villa de la Vega as it was then called by the Spanish. The capital was later taken over by the British during their colonial rule. Government

officials were housed at Kings House, an impressive structure which was flanked by the Courthouse and Rodney’s Memorial. Restoration efforts have

preserved the architectural facade of these grand edifices which bear testimony to the island’s impressive past.

St. Catherine Attractions:

• Two Sister’s Cave

• Flat Bridge and the Rio Cobre

• Horse racing at Caymanas Park

• Golf at Caymanas Golf Club

• The spot on the portico of King’s House where the Declaration of Emancipation was read

• The impressive Cathedral of St. Jago de la Vega, the first Anglican Church erected outside England’s borders and the oldest in the British
  

         Caribbean

• The Cast Iron Bridge in Spanish Town – the first of its kind in the Americas and the only one of its kind still existing in the New World

• Sligoville Community Museum – which holds the history of Jamaica’s first Free Village

• The People’s Museum of Craft & Technology on the grounds of Old Kings House

• The Taino Museum at White Marl, which is a model Taino home

• Hellshire Beach – a favourite among Jamaicans – known for ‘fish and festival’

• The Town of Old Harbour