Seville Heritage Park, perched on the north shore of Saint Ann's Bay, stands as the cradle of Jamaican history — where Taino, Spanish, African and English narratives converge in a story stretching back over a millennium.
Once the Taino village of Maima, later the first European capital of Jamaica (Sevilla la Nueva), then a thriving African-European plantation landscape, Seville's layers offer a unique window into the intersection of cultures that forged our island's identity.
Seville Heritage Park is the only site in Jamaica where you can stand atop a Taino village, explore the ruins of the first Spanish capital, and wander through a 17th-century British plantation—all within a single 300-acre landscape. This uninterrupted archaeological record makes Seville truly unparalleled.
The Taino Legacy at Maima
Long before European sails appeared on the horizon, the Taino of Maima thrived in harmony with Jamaica's rivers and seas. Arriving from South America around 500 CE, they built wooden canoes, cultivated cassava, maize, and cotton, and fished the Caribbean's bounty. Excavations have revealed house foundations and pottery shards — testimony to a peaceful, sophisticated society whose spirit endures in the island's very name, Jamaica, derived from the Taino Xaymaca, meaning 'Land of Wood and Water.'
Jamaica's First Capital:
Sevilla la Nueva (1509–1534)
In 1509, the Spanish established Sevilla la Nueva on the site of the Taino village of Maima, making it the first capital of Jamaica. Under brutal conditions — marked by forced labor, punitive expeditions and the spread of European diseases — an estimated 80–90 percent of the island's Taino perished within decades. Recent archaeological work has unearthed an artisan's workshop, revealing carved stone columns and tools that stand as mute witnesses to the human cost of Spain's colonial ambitions.
The African Presence:
Foundations of Identity
Though first brought by the Spanish in the early 1500s, it was under British rule that Africans came to Seville in large numbers. By the late 1600s, Seville had grown into a full-scale sugar plantation, where hundreds of enslaved Africans lived, worked, and died. They constructed roads, cultivated cane, and left behind cultural markers that continue to shape Jamaican identity today.
Following emancipation in 1834, many formerly enslaved Africans chose to remain in the area, forming free villages near the estate. Their descendants contributed to a legacy of resilience and creativity that defines Jamaica. Today, more than 90% of Jamaicans are of African descent, and Seville stands as both a memorial to their ancestors' suffering and a celebration of their strength.
Modern Renewal: A Path to UNESCO
Seville is perhaps the most historic site in the Western Hemisphere. In 2009, Jamaica submitted Seville Heritage Park to UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List, recognizing its outstanding universal value. Between 2010 and 2012, the Great House was transformed into a 21st-century museum with interactive exhibits and curated artifacts.
Government acquisition of the 300-acre estate.
Declared a National Monument by JNHT.
Submitted to UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.
Inscribing Seville on the UNESCO World Heritage List would recognize not only the site's unique stratigraphy of Taino, Spanish and British rule—but also its power to confront us with the violences of colonization and the resilience of those who endured it. As Ainsley Henriques has championed, "Seville is our roots, and its protection is our shared responsibility."