Vieux Fort is one of 10

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

island country An island country, island state or an island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

Vieux Fort Vieux Fort is one of 10 districts of the Caribbean island country of Saint Lucia. Vieux Fort is also the name of the main town in the district. It is the home of the second-largest town in Saint Lucia and is the home of Saint Lucia's internati ...

is also the name of the main town in the district. It is the home of the second-largest town in Saint Lucia and is the home of Saint Lucia's international airport,

Hewanorra International Airport Hewanorra International Airport , located near Vieux Fort Quarter, Saint Lucia, in the Caribbean, is the larger of Saint Lucia's two airports and is managed by the Saint Lucia Air and Seaports Authority (SLASPA). It is on the southern cape of t ...

(Hewanorra is the island's old Amerindian name).

Geography

It has several small communities which include Augier, Pierrot, Belle Vue, Black Bay, Grace, La Resource, Pierrot, St. Urban,

La Tourney La Tourney is a town in Vieux Fort District in the island country of Saint Lucia. La Tourney is in the La Tourney/Cedar Heights section of Vieux Fort District, which has a population of 706. La Tourney is located on the southern coast of Sain ...

, Vige, and Zaboo.

Economy

Every Friday and Saturday is market day where you can buy local goods such as spices,

ground provisions Ground provisions is the term used in West Indian nations to describe a number of traditional root vegetable staples such as yams, sweet potatoes, dasheen root (taro), eddos and cassava. They are often cooked and served as a side dish in local cui ...

and fruits. It also houses St. Lucia's biggest fish market.and you can go to the mall every day which sells good fashion products

History

Dutch sailors built a fort here, though the first fort in St. Lucia was built by the ''Oliphe Blossome'' settlers in 1605. In the second half of the 18th century, Vieux Fort was the center of Saint Lucia's sugar industry; today it is more industrial. Part of Vieux Fort is called Black Bay. It got its name because legend has it that the infamous pirate

Blackbeard Edward Teach (alternatively spelled Edward Thatch, – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English Piracy, pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's Thirteen Colonies, North American colon ...

used this part of the country to stash his ill-gotten gains. During the Second World War, Vieux Fort became a base for American troops. Some of the evidence can still be seen around town, such as the

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

that runs from Clark Street all the way to St. Judes Hospital in Augier. This tunnel was used for storage of supplies and also a quick route to the hospital. Many people who reside in Vieux-Fort today have no idea about such a tunnel. In recent years a new modern part of Vieux Fort has been erected to reflect the modern world, yet if you walk along Clark Street and its surrounding roads, you will still see what is known as The Old Town. Here you will see historic colonial houses that give Vieux Fort a touch of Old

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

(albeit they do need a bit of renovation now). In recent times Black Bay has become a haven for

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

Government

The Vieux Fort district is divided into two electoral constituencies represented in the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

. The electoral constituencies has been represented since July 2021 by

Moses Jean Baptiste Moses Jn. Baptiste is a St. Lucian politician. He is the Parliamentary Representative for Vieux Fort North. Jn. Baptiste resides in Pierrot, Vieux-Fort. Before entering politics, Moses was an agricultural science teacher at the Vieux Fort Comp ...

(Vieux Fort North) and

Kenny Anthony Kenny Davis Anthony (born 8 January 1951Government page on Anthony
.) is a

(Vieux Fort South) as Parliamentary Representatives. The district elected their representatives during the countries recent general election.

Tourism

Whilst the majority of tourist activity in Saint Lucia is based on the west coast, some hotels are located in Vieux Fort District. A notable tourist attraction is the Maria Islands Nature Reserve, managed by the

Saint Lucia National Trust The Saint Lucia National Trust is a non-profit organization established by statute in 1975 on the island nation of Saint Lucia. It is charged "to conserve the natural and cultural heritage of Saint Lucia, and to promote values which lead to nati ...

, which is a nesting ground for

leatherback turtles The leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea''), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to and weights ...

and is home to a species of

iguana ''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his bo ...

indigenous to St. Lucia.

References

Citations

* {{Authority control Quarters of Saint Lucia Subdivisions of Saint Lucia