Fort George

About the Fort George

St. George's is the capital of Grenada, crowned by the imposing Fort George — a hilltop fortification built by the French in 1705 and later expanded by the British. Perched above the picturesque horseshoe harbour, the fort's thick stone walls and rows of historic cannons command panoramic views of the Caribbean Sea, the terracotta-roofed town below, and the lush volcanic hills beyond. Fort George remains the most iconic landmark of the Spice Isle, a sentinel of Grenada's turbulent colonial history and enduring Caribbean charm.

Grenada's oldest fortification crowns the promontory west of the capital's harbour, where French colonists raised a wooden work called Fort Royale in 1666; construction of a stone star fort with four bastions, designed by Jean de Giou de Caylus, began in 1705 and finished in 1710. After Britain took the island under the 1763 Treaty of Paris, it was renamed for George III, giving the town and fort a shared name. It passed to Grenada's government at independence in 1974, was renamed Fort Rupert during the 1979 revolution, and was where Maurice Bishop was shot on 19 October 1983, days before the US invasion. Long the police headquarters, it now serves as a historic site above St. George's.