Nassau

Nassau is the capital of The Bahamas. It is a blend of modern glass and steel buildings and colonial architecture. Most tourist activity is concentrated on the waterfront. There are many 18th and 19th century buildings in Nassau's historic center and most of them are very well preserved. Most of the country's government buildings are located around Parliament Square.

The Historical Library and Museum has displays on the country's slavery history. It is housed in an 18th century building and includes an underground dungeon, as well as a museum of Lucayan Indian history.

Paradise Island, with its marvelous beaches, is connected to Nassau with a bridge. On the island is the Royal Victoria Garden, where you can see more than 300 tropical plant species. At Bay Street you can visit the world's largest straw market, as well as numerous shops. The Queen's Staircase is a gorge-like roadway, carved out of the limestone ridge south of downtown Nassau, by more than 500 slaves at the end of the 18th century. In 1834, after 16 years of work, the project was abandoned with the abolition of slavery in 1834. Now it stands unfinished as a symbol against forced labor.

There are countless hotels and apartments in Nassau and on Paradise Island are several luxurious tourist resorts. There are also many restaurants in town, as well as nightclubs, discotheques and bars.

A huge fire destroyed the National Museum, as well as numerous other buildings in the center on 5 September 2001