St . John’s Cathedral

In St. John’s–If you’re staying outside St. John’s (which is highly likely), you might consider visiting the city on market day on Saturday morning. Many of the locals with stuff to sell get right on the bus with whatever they’ll be peddling in town at the market: chickens, birds, luscious fruit, beautiful flowers, and certainly plenty of handcrafts. They’ll probably start bargaining with you before you even get to the market. In the southern part of St. John’s, the semi-open-air market, on the lower end of Market Street, is colorful and interesting, especially from 8am to noon.

St. John’s Cathedral, the Anglican church between Long Street and Newgate Street at Church Lane (tel. 268/461-0082), has resurrected itself time and again — it’s been destroyed by earthquakes and rebuilt on the same site at least three times since being built in 1683. The present structure dates from 1845.

Exhibits at the Museum of Antigua & Barbuda, at Market and Long streets (tel. 268/462-1469), are within one of Antigua’s oldest buildings, built by English colonials in 1750 as a courthouse. The museum covers the island’s history, from prehistoric days up to its independence from Britain in 1981. Exhibitions include examples of each of the semiprecious stones (especially jade) you can find on Antigua, as well as models of sugar plantations, steam engines, paintings, and historical prints. It’s open Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 4pm and on Saturday from 10am to 2pm. There is a $2 suggested donation.Top

Shirley Heights

This rambling array of gun emplacements and military buildings is best known today for the absolutely breathtaking prospect that it offers. From the Heights one can look far out over English Harbour, and on Sunday afternoons the view is accompanied by barbecue, rum punch, and the plangent strains of steel band and reggae music. The site is named for General Shirley, Governor of the Leeward Islands when the area was fortified in the late eighteenth century. Close by is the cemetery, in which stands an obelisk erected in honour of the soldiers of the 54th regiment.Top

Sea View Farm Village

Antiguan folk pottery dates back at least to the early 18th century, when slaves fashioned cooking vessels from local clay. Today, folk pottery is fashioned in a number of places around Antigua, but the center of this cottage industry is Sea View Farm Village. The clay is collected from pits located nearby, and the wares are fired in an open fire under layers of green grass in the yards of the potters’ houses. Folk pottery can be purchased at outlets in the village as well as at a number of stores around the island. Buyers should be aware that Antiguan folk pottery breaks rather easily in cold environments.Top

Harmony Hall Art Gallery

Harmony Hall, in Brown’s Bay at Nonsuch Bay, is the center of the Antiguan arts community. Exhibits change throughout the year, but the annual highlights are the Antigua Artist’s Exhibition and the Craft Fair, both in November. The sugar mill tower around which Harmony Hall is built has been converted to a bar and provides its patrons with one of the island’s best panoramic views, including a fine prospect of Nonsuch Bay.