Mike and I rented a car while we were staying at the Palm Bay Marina. We decide to check out the tourist sights in Nassau and came across The Queens Staircase, commonly referred to as The 66 Steps. The walkway and stair case was hewn out of solid limestone rock by slaves between 1793 and 1794. It provided a direct route from Fort Fincastle to Nassau. These steps were later renamed in honor of Queen Victoria, who reigned in Britain for 64 years, from 1837 to 1901.
Towards the end of the 18th century, The Bahamas was a target for European marauders who wanted control of the Caribbean. Since the British had already colonized the country, they were fearful of an invasion, so a number of forts were built including Fort Fincastle, Fort Montagu, and Fort Charlotte (all of which remain standing today). Due to Fort Fincastle’s strategic position at the top of Bennet’s Hill, the highest point in Nassau, a direct access route was needed to reach the fort in case of an attack—which resulted in the start of building a staircase in the late 1700s.
The 102-foot staircase was hand-carved by approximately 600 slaves, who used pick axes and hand tools to cut their way through solid limestone, and the entire staircase took over 16 years to complete. It was only decades later that the impressive staircase was then named in honor of the 65-year reign of Queen Victoria, “who had signed a declaration to abolish slavery on her ascension to the throne in 1837.” Today, the Queen’s Staircase still acts as both a passageway to Fort Fincastle and a shortcut to Bennet’s Hill.
