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Holetown
is the third-largest town in Barbados - a busy, modern hub for the
local tourist industry, if somewhat lacking in character. All west
coast buses run through it, and the main highway is lined with
fast-food restaurants, souvenir shops, banks and grocery stores.
Just before you reach the centre, Sunset Crest shopping
centre on the east side of the highway has plenty of places where
you can pick up souvenirs. There are more shopping options once you
reach Holetown itself, with a dozen reproduction chattel houses in
the chattel house village (also alongside the highway)
selling gifts and the like, and the nearby West Coast Mall
offering equally good spending opportunities. On the northern edge
of town, 1st and 2nd streets, lined with trendy restaurants, lead
down to the sea.
Ten minutes' walk north of the centre of Holetown is St James's
Parish Church , one of the most attractive on the island. It is
also the oldest religious site in Barbados - the original wooden
church was built here in 1628. The present church is a small,
graceful building, with thick stone walls, and two columns
supporting the stone chancel arch that divides the nave from the
choir. There are the usual marble funerary monuments on the walls,
while more modern works of art include a colorful biblical triptych
by Ethiopian painter Alemayehu Bizumeh and bronze bas-reliefs of St
James and St Mary by Czech sculptor George Kveton.
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A
couple of miles inland from Holetown is the informative Portvale
Sugar Museum , signposted off Highway 2A just north of the main
roundabout (Mon-Sat 9am-5pm; B$15). The small museum is the
brainchild of Frank Hutson, a former sugar worker who rescued a load
of rusting sugar-mill machinery, cleaned it up and incorporated it
into the museum, adding captions, maps and photos explaining the
role of sugar on the island since its introduction in the 1640s.
Between February and June you can tour the adjacent sugar factory
and view the full production process, from the loading and grinding
of the cane to the crystallization of the brown sugar.
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Caribbean guide
Barbados Travel Guide
Barbados guide
Barbados
Where to go
When to go
Getting there
Money and costs
Getting around
Food and drink
Phones, post
Brief history
Best of Barbados
Information, maps
Festivals, holidays
Sports, outdoor activities
Tours
Explore Barbados
-
Bridgetown
Eating, nightlife
Listings
Central Bridgetown
National Heroes Square
Old City
Central
Barbados
Explore Central Barbados
Flower Forest
Francia
Gun Hill
Harrison's Cave
Welchman Hall
Gully
East Coast
Explore East Coast
Andromeda Botanical Gardens
Bathsheba
Codrington College
St. John's Parish
Garrison
Hackletons Cliff & Scotland
Barbados Museum and
Gallery of Art
Savannah, Garrison area
Barbados
Wildlife Reserve
Cherry Tree
Hill
Farley Hill Nat'l Park
Grenade Hall
Morgan
Lewis Sugar Mill
St Nicholas
Abbey
Bridgetown
North
Mount Gay Rum Factory
Tyrol Cot |
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