Port Royal to be designated World Heritage Site
Published:Thursday | May 29, 2025 | 8:54 PM
Culture Minister Olivia Grange has indicated that Port Royal in Kingston is set to be designated a World Heritage Site.
Speaking on Wednesday at the floral tribute to mark the 95th anniversary of the birth of former Prime Minister Edward Seaga, Grange said the designation is to be undertaken in July.
Jamaica had nominated Port Royal to be added to the World Heritage List.
Grange said she was informed by the World Heritage Centre that an evaluation team has recommended that the nomination should be accepted.
The Minister described the news as another win for Jamaica.
She said it was also news that “Mr Seaga would be proud to hear" as his Administration of the 1980s had proposed three Jamaican sites, including Port Royal, to the World Heritage List.
The town, once the enclave of pirates, grew to become the most important trading post and the most affluent town in the New World.
It became known as both the richest and the wickedest city in the West, if not the whole world.
At the height of its immense wealth in the 17th century disaster struck.
On June 7, 1692, an earthquake caused two-thirds of Port Royal to sink into the sea.
Remarkably, 332 years on, it is a well-preserved site that captures life as it was being lived in Port Royal at the time.
Grange said that the World Heritage Site designation, along with the current presence of the cruise ship pier, would seriously enhance Port Royal’s and Jamaica’s culture and heritage tourism product.
‘The Archaeological Landscape of 17th Century Port Royal’ would join the Blue and John Crow Mountains as Jamaican properties on the World Heritage List.
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