Founded in 1638 by British lumber harvesters on the site of a small Maya city called Holzuz, Belize City was once the capital of the former British Honduras, and remained until today the largest city of the country. Even if it slowly improved its infrastructure, many of the streets built from colonial days are still small and congested, a majority of houses are still susceptible to fire and damage from hurricanes, and the city is always awaiting something calamitous to happen.
Tourists wandering through the streets of Belize City appreciate some of its quaint, wooden colonial architecture, reminiscent of the British colonial times. However, many have been destroyed by the hurricanes. Regardless, these colonial houses are distinct with red roofs and white wooden walls. There are also Clapboard houses, which are colorful festively painted homes, hoisted on top of stilts.
The main sites with colonial structure are the Government House, the Anglican St. John’s Cathedral, and the Paslow Building which houses the post office and the Magistrates' Court. Built by slaves with bricks that were originally ballasts used to stabilize the hulls of European sailing ships, St. Johns Cathedral is the oldest Anglican Cathedral Church in Central America as well as the oldest building in Belize city.
Opposite the Cathedral, the Government House, built originally in 1814 to serve as the residence of many British colonial governor-generals, is a well preserved, white colonial building. The Paslow Building was named after a slave owner, Thomas Paslow. The Supreme Court Building is another landmark built in a classic British colonial style with a dome topped clock tower. This building is on the site where the original courthouse was built in 1818.
About the stamp
The stamp is one of the two issued to mark 100th anniversary of the pallottine sister in Belize.
References
Belize City: Architecture - Tripadvisor
Sender: Joseph Koop (direct swap)
Sent from Spanish Lookout (Belize), on 01.07.2015
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