16 Photos Showcasing the Beauty of St. Ann in Jamaica

Saint Ann is the largest parish in Jamaica, located on the island’s north coast. It is named for  Lady Anne Hyde, the first wife of King James II of England. You may know this parish for the resort town of Ocho Rios or perhaps even Runaway Bay or Discovery Bay. St. Ann lies almost smack in the middle of Jamaica and is also called the Garden Parish in light of its floral beauty. St. Ann is one of Jamaica’s oldest populated areas, tracing back to 600–650 AD. It is believed to be the earliest settlement in Jamaica. The Tainos, Jamaica’s pre-Columbian aboriginal people, were its first settlers. Christopher Columbus first landed in Jamaica at Discovery Bay, St. Ann in 1494. He eventually lived there for a year after being marooned in the Caribbean on his fourth voyage to the New World. The first Spanish settlement in Jamaica was at Sevilla la Nueva, and you can explore its colourful history today at the Seville Heritage Park. Today we take a look at 16 photos which showcase the beauty of this parish. See why we call St. Ann the Garden Parish of Jamaica.

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Green Grotto Caves, Saint Ann

Named for the green algae which once covered their walls, the Green Grotto Caves in Discovery Bay blend ecotourism and history into a 45-minute tour. These caves, secret passages and caverns have played a pivotal role in Jamaica’s history– first used by Jamaica’s earliest inhabitants the Tainos for hundreds of years as a home, source of food and sacred ground, by the Spanish and later runaway slaves as a hideaway, by smugglers running arms to Cuba between the two World Wars then in more recent times as a rum barrel storehouse.

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