Georgetown: colonial wooden architecture

Capital of Guyana built below sea level thanks to a system of dikes of Dutch origin, Georgetown preserves one of the best-preserved Dutch colonial wooden architecture heritages in the Caribbean.

The colonial center with its Victorian wooden houses can be easily traversed on foot in a morning.

The day begins at the Cathedral of St. George, built entirely of wood in the late nineteenth century to resist tropical flooding: it remains among the tallest wooden churches in the world.

Just a few blocks away, a cast iron clock tower imported from the United Kingdom has marked since 1880 the entrance of the Stabroek Market, where tropical fruit, fish and fabrics are still sold under the same original metal structure.

Moving toward the coast, the Seawall, built by the Dutch and later reinforced by the English, protects the city situated below sea level and is today the place where residents gather on weekends.

In the afternoon, giant Amazonian water lilies and a small freshwater manatee reserve populate the internal canals of Georgetown's Botanical Gardens, designed in the colonial era.

When the tide is particularly high, you can see the water brush the inner edge of the Seawall: a concrete reminder of how much the city depends on that barrier to stay dry.

Over its history, the wooden city has been repeatedly devastated by fires, which is also why surviving historic buildings, the cathedral included, are protected with special care today.