Brimstone Hill Fortress, St. Kitts: British engineers chose this steeply sloped volcanic hill overlooking the Caribbean Sea as the perfect site to construct a massive fortress to protect St. Kitts from invasion by the French and its other 17th and 18th century rivals. Completed by 1780, the fort was dubbed the ‘Gibraltar of the Caribbean’ but fell to a siege by the French in 1782. The fortress remains largely intact, and visitors can peer over a line of cannons to enjoy the view of the Kittitian coastline, the Caribbean, and the island of St. Eustatius.
