Which Caribbean island is home to the historic Brimstone Hill Fortress?

Saint Kitts is home to Brimstone Hill Fortress, a major historic fortification in the Caribbean.

Brimstone Hill Fortress was built by the British on a steep volcanic hill overlooking the western coast of Saint Kitts. Construction began in the late seventeenth century, and enslaved Africans supplied much of the labour. The stronghold was designed to protect the island’s valuable sugar-producing estates and strategic harbour approaches.

The French captured the fortress in 1782, but the British regained Saint Kitts under the Treaty of Paris in 1783. The fort was later abandoned as a military site. Its walls, bastions, and views remain remarkably important examples of colonial military architecture.

Brimstone Hill became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. Nevis is the neighbouring island in the federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, but the fortress is on Saint Kitts itself.