St. Thomas Historical Trust Gathers at Skytsborg, Highlights Preservation Efforts
On Saturday evening, the St. Thomas Historical Trust gathered supporters at Skytsborg, also known as Blackbeard’s Castle, to raise funds and awareness for the preservation of the island’s architectural heritage. The 17th-century watchtower, one of the most recognizable landmarks overlooking Charlotte Amalie, is slated to reopen to the public later this month after years of closure.
2025-08-25 12:19:26 - VI News Staff
According to the National Historic Landmark Nomination of Skytsborg, created by the National Park Service, “Skytsborg, or Blackbeard’s Castle, is a rubble masonry tower constructed in 1679 by the Danish colonial government as part of a network of defensive fortifications to protect St. Thomas. It is the best remaining example of seventeenth-century Danish colonial military architecture in the United States, and is the only unmodified seventeenth-century fortified tower in the Caribbean.”
That authenticity is what secured its designation as one of the five National Historic Landmarks in the USVI and is also what makes Skytsborg a powerful point of connection for the community. That’s according to Felipe Ayala Jr, board member and education chairman for the St. Thomas Historical Trust and chairman of the St. Thomas-St. John Committee of the Historic Preservation Commission for DPNR, who said, “Historic preservation is about what has endured from original to the current.”
Ayala noted that a major draw for visitors is not just the tower itself but the history of the entire Kongens Quarter, especially the steep “step streets” that climb the hills of Charlotte Amalie. According to Ayala, the capital boasts 47 of them, which is the most in the Caribbean, far more than the three in Grenada and one in Puerto Rico. With so many step streets concentrated in a small area, Ayala said, much of the city’s history can be explored within walking distance of Skytsborg.