{"id":5535,"date":"2019-06-11T10:50:36","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T09:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/?p=5535"},"modified":"2026-01-12T14:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:39:08","slug":"port-royal-pirate-paradise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/port-royal-pirate-paradise\/","title":{"rendered":"Port Royal &#8211; Pirate Paradise"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 data-start=\"391\" data-end=\"433\">Port Royal: The Wickedest City on Earth<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"435\" data-end=\"674\">Sailing into the clear blue waters of <strong data-start=\"473\" data-end=\"493\">Kingston Harbour<\/strong>, Port Royal comes quickly into view. Today, it\u2019s hard to imagine that this quiet Caribbean village was once considered one of the largest and most infamous cities in the New World.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"676\" data-end=\"909\">In the late seventeenth century, Port Royal\u2019s narrow alleyways and taverns echoed with the riotous behaviour of ruthless pirates and notorious privateers. At its height, it earned the ominous title of <em data-start=\"877\" data-end=\"908\">\u201cthe wickedest city on earth\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"911\" data-end=\"914\" \/>\n<h2 data-start=\"916\" data-end=\"953\">The Origins of Port Royal, Jamaica<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"955\" data-end=\"1233\">When English warships seized Jamaica from the Spanish in <strong data-start=\"1012\" data-end=\"1020\">1655<\/strong>, a fort was hastily constructed at <strong data-start=\"1056\" data-end=\"1072\">Point Cagway<\/strong>. Renamed <strong data-start=\"1082\" data-end=\"1096\">Port Royal<\/strong> in <strong data-start=\"1100\" data-end=\"1108\">1660<\/strong> to honour the restoration of <strong data-start=\"1138\" data-end=\"1157\">King Charles II<\/strong>, the settlement was strategically important, but dangerously under-defended.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1235\" data-end=\"1630\">With too few troops to repel Spanish counterattacks, the English adopted a controversial strategy: they invited hardened pirates and privateers to use the port freely in return for protecting it. The vast natural harbour offered safe anchorage for dozens of galleons, and before long, illicit gold and silver flooded in. Within three decades, Port Royal had grown into a sprawling, wealthy city.<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"1632\" data-end=\"1635\" \/>\n<h2 data-start=\"1637\" data-end=\"1673\">Smuggling, Excess and Lawlessness<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"1675\" data-end=\"1922\">By <strong data-start=\"1678\" data-end=\"1686\">1690<\/strong>, Port Royal was a powerful trading hub openly dealing in smuggled goods, including enslaved people, raw sugar cane and timber. Merchants with a taste for danger amassed enormous fortunes, but often didn\u2019t live long enough to enjoy them.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1924\" data-end=\"2184\">The local drink, <strong data-start=\"1941\" data-end=\"1959\">Kill-Devil Rum<\/strong>, was so strong it reportedly caused hundreds of deaths. Lawlessness was unchecked. The Portuguese pirate <strong data-start=\"2065\" data-end=\"2085\">Roche Brasiliano<\/strong> became infamous for his extreme cruelty, torturing victims publicly in the streets to instil fear.<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"2186\" data-end=\"2189\" \/>\n<h2 data-start=\"2191\" data-end=\"2239\">Sir Henry Morgan: Pirate, Knight and Governor<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"2241\" data-end=\"2508\">In contrast to many of his peers, <strong data-start=\"2275\" data-end=\"2299\">Captain Henry Morgan<\/strong> cultivated a reputation as a gentleman, at least by pirate standards. A highly successful privateer authorised by England to attack Spanish interests, Morgan coordinated devastating raids across the Caribbean.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2510\" data-end=\"2832\">His success earned him a knighthood, and he later became <strong data-start=\"2567\" data-end=\"2601\">Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica<\/strong>. When he died in <strong data-start=\"2619\" data-end=\"2627\">1688<\/strong>, aged around fifty-three, he was enormously wealthy and received a lavish state funeral in Port Royal. Some of his silverware can still be seen at <strong data-start=\"2775\" data-end=\"2796\">St Peter\u2019s Church<\/strong> and the museum at <strong data-start=\"2815\" data-end=\"2831\">Fort Charles<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2834\" data-end=\"2884\">However, Morgan was not destined to rest in peace.<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"2886\" data-end=\"2889\" \/>\n<h2 data-start=\"2891\" data-end=\"2933\">The 1692 Earthquake and the Sunken City<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"2935\" data-end=\"3185\">In <strong data-start=\"2938\" data-end=\"2946\">1692<\/strong>, a catastrophic earthquake, estimated at <strong data-start=\"2987\" data-end=\"3004\">magnitude 7.5, <\/strong>struck Port Royal. Built on unstable, sandy foundations, large sections of the city liquefied and slid into the sea, taking streets, buildings and Captain Morgan\u2019s grave with them.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3187\" data-end=\"3344\">Today, submerged pillars, archways and roads remain visible beneath the harbour\u2019s waters, earning Port Royal recognition as a <strong data-start=\"3313\" data-end=\"3343\">UNESCO World Heritage site<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3346\" data-end=\"3687\">Nearby <strong data-start=\"3353\" data-end=\"3370\">Rackham\u2019s Cay<\/strong> marks the location where the body of pirate <strong data-start=\"3415\" data-end=\"3445\">John \u201cCalico Jack\u201d Rackham<\/strong> was displayed in chains after his execution in <strong data-start=\"3493\" data-end=\"3501\">1720<\/strong>, a warning to others. His capture also sealed the fate of his legendary female companions, <strong data-start=\"3593\" data-end=\"3606\">Mary Read<\/strong> and <strong data-start=\"3611\" data-end=\"3625\">Anne Bonny<\/strong>, whose ultimate destinies remain shrouded in myth and legend.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3689\" data-end=\"3844\">Repeated earthquakes, fires and hurricanes prevented Port Royal from ever reclaiming its former glory. By <strong data-start=\"3795\" data-end=\"3803\">1770<\/strong>, its days of notoriety were firmly over.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"5537\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/port-royal-pirate-paradise\/portroyalsunken\/#main\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/portroyalsunken.jpg?fit=850%2C556&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"850,556\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"portroyalsunken\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/portroyalsunken.jpg?fit=850%2C556&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-5537\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/portroyalsunken.jpg?resize=300%2C196&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"port royal\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/portroyalsunken.jpg?resize=300%2C196&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/portroyalsunken.jpg?resize=768%2C502&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/portroyalsunken.jpg?resize=459%2C300&amp;ssl=1 459w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/portroyalsunken.jpg?w=850&amp;ssl=1 850w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"3846\" data-end=\"3849\" \/>\n<h3 data-start=\"3851\" data-end=\"3876\">Port Royal, Jamaica<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"3877\" data-end=\"3967\"><em data-start=\"3877\" data-end=\"3917\">Map of Port Royal by John Taylor, 1688<\/em><br data-start=\"3917\" data-end=\"3920\" \/><em data-start=\"3920\" data-end=\"3967\">Image of the sunken city courtesy of GoUNESCO<\/em><\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"3969\" data-end=\"3972\" \/>\n<h2 data-start=\"3974\" data-end=\"4027\">Sail, Explore and Connect with Like-Minded Sailors<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"4029\" data-end=\"4130\">Are you passionate about sailing, adventure and the stories that unfold along the world\u2019s coastlines?<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4132\" data-end=\"4268\">\ud83d\udc49 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lovesail.com\"><strong data-start=\"4135\" data-end=\"4157\">Visit Lovesail.com<\/strong><\/a> to connect with like-minded sailing enthusiasts and discover meaningful connections both on and off the water.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4270\" data-end=\"4310\"><strong data-start=\"4270\" data-end=\"4310\">Lovesail \u2013 where sailing souls meet.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4270\" data-end=\"4310\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"9493\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/sailing-word-search\/new-logo-2025-main\/#main\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/new-logo-2025-Main.jpg?fit=300%2C70&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"300,70\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"new logo 2025 Main\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/new-logo-2025-Main.jpg?fit=300%2C70&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9493\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/new-logo-2025-Main.jpg?resize=300%2C70&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"lovesail\" width=\"300\" height=\"70\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Port Royal: The Wickedest City on Earth Sailing into the clear blue waters of Kingston Harbour, Port Royal comes quickly into view. Today, it\u2019s hard to imagine that this quiet Caribbean village was once considered one of the largest and most infamous cities in the New World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5536,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6479],"tags":[1116,1113,1117,1114,1119,1115,1118,1120,1112,1110,1121,1111],"class_list":["post-5535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discover","tag-anne-bonny","tag-buccaneers","tag-calico-jack","tag-captain-morgan","tag-jamaica","tag-john-rackham","tag-kill-devil-rum","tag-mary-read","tag-pirates","tag-port-royal","tag-roche-brasiliano","tag-sunken-city"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Port Royal, Jamaica \u2013 The Wickedest City on Earth Pirate Paradise<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sail into the history of Port Royal, Jamaica \u2013 once the \u201cwickedest city on earth\u201d, home to pirates, privateers and a sunken city under the sea.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/port-royal-pirate-paradise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Port Royal - Pirate Paradise\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Port Royal: The Wickedest City on Earth Sailing into the clear blue waters of Kingston Harbour, Port Royal comes quickly into view. Today, it\u2019s hard to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/port-royal-pirate-paradise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LoveSail\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-11T09:50:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-12T14:39:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lovesail.com\/ls-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/port-royal.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1698\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erica\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lovesail.com\\\/ls-news\\\/port-royal-pirate-paradise\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lovesail.com\\\/ls-news\\\/port-royal-pirate-paradise\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Erica\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lovesail.com\\\/ls-news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6f008703429f2d9a45ff9772c08f272c\"},\"headline\":\"Port Royal &#8211; 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