DESTINATION INFORMATION
The island's capital, Port of Spain, is surrounded by the lush green hills of the Northern Range, is the capital and business hub of oil-rich Trinidad. Formerly annexed to the South American mainland, the city captures the variety of Trinidadian life, with bazaars thronging beneath modern skyscrapers and mosques rubbing shoulders with cathedrals.
On the northern edge of the city, Queen's Park Savannah, consists of 198 acres, complete with soccer, cricket, and rugby fields, and vendors hawking coconut water and rotis. This area was once a sugar plantation, but a fire in 1808 swept it and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Among the buildings around the Savannah is Queen's Royal College, now a school for boys, which contains a clock tower with Westminster chimes. The Roodal clan's family home ~ affectionately called 'The Gingerbread House' ~ was built in the baroque style of the French Second Empire.
Nearby stands Whitehall, once a private mansion but now the Prime Minister's office. In the Moorish style, it was erected in 1905 and served as the U.S. Army HQ during World War II. These houses, including Hayes Court, the residence of the Anglican Bishop of Trinidad, and others, form what is known as the 'Magnificent Seven' big mansions, standing in a row.
The Red House in Woodford Square is the seat of the government of Trinidad and Tobago, while nearby stands Holy Trinity Cathedral, with a Gothic look reminiscent of the churches of England.
Another of the town's important landmarks is Independence Square, dating from Spanish days, which stretches across the southern part of the capital as far as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
At Central Market you can see all the spices and fruits for which Trinidad is known, and is one of the island's most colorful sights.
The Royal Botanical Gardens are filled with flowering plants, shrubs, and rare and beautiful trees, including an orchid house. In the gardens is the President's House, the official residence of the president of Trinidad and Tobago. Part of the gardens forms the Emperor Valley Zoo, home to a selection of the fauna of Trinidad as well as some exotic animals from around the world. The star attractions are a family of mandrills, a reptile house, and open bird parks.
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