Jamaica - Seville Heritage Park

Seville Heritage Park is one of Jamaica's most significant cultural heritage sites and the area is regarded as the genesis of modern Jamaica. The site has been occupied since prehistoric times, and includes the archaeological remains of the indigenous Amerindian (Taino) village of Maima, the 16th century Spanish settlement of Sevilla la Nueva, the post-1655 British sugar plantation known as New Seville, and the distinct landscape and flora that emerged as a result of these interventions. The encounter, co-existence, and merging of Taino, Europeans and Africans at this site was the initiation of the racial and cultural diversity that characterizes the current Jamaican demography and gives credence to the National Mono, Out of Many, One People. During the 16th to 19th centuries, sugar emerged as one the most lavish and successful industries in Jamaica, the Caribbean and the Americas. Notably, Seville was one of the first sites in the region to have received a steady flow of African slaves working the sugar plantations under the Spaniards. The trend further increased under the British occupation. At a time when sugar was regarded as the jewel in the British Crown, the scale and grandeur of the New World plantations like Seville, defined the social and economic opulence associated with the industry.