The Magnificent Seven

One of the landmarks that Trinidadians are duly proud of are "The Magnificent Seven" which have nothing whatever to do Yul Brenner or Steve McQueen. Rather, this is a group of buildings on the western side of Queen's Park Savannah... which is a large park located in the middle of town.

My apartment is located just off the left edge of the map and when I go walking I pass by that park on the left and arrive at the Savannah next to the Queen's Royal College. I admit that the building looks very nice from the front but I pass right by and... well to be generous they are more concerned with how the front looks than the back.

When I do my walks I cross the road... some will tell you that the savannah is the largest round about in the world... and head north. The next one of the seven I see is Hayes Court. While not as big as the Royal College, it is a good sized house.

Then comes Mille Fleur, which I believe means either "thousand flowers" or "mile long flower." You can see the real problem with the magnificent seven with Mille Fluer; it's actually kind of run down. Still we have to grant them the fact that "Magnificent Seven" is a much catchier title than "Formally Magnificent But Now In Need of Repairs Seven."

Then Roormor which may have been the home of a newspaper magnate. (Yeah. I know. That was an exceptionally weak pun.)

You get much more of a feel for what the group must have looked like when they were newer from the Archbishop's House... which oddly enough was the home of the Archbishop. (Trinidad's Christian population is not as heavily Anglican as you might expect from a former British colony. The Roman Catholics and the Spiritual Baptists also have a big presence here.)

Next we have Whitehall which is the home of the Prime Minister. I assume the name comes from the street in London. This house is probably in the best condition of the seven.

Finally we come to the oldest of the group, Stollmeyer's Castle also called Killarney. The new bride of the original builder, Stollmeyer, named it Killarney because she wanted to honeymoon in Ireland. Apparently both the Castle and Whitehall were occupied during the second world war by American troops. I can only assume they were there because Trinidad is the eastern most of the Caribbean islands and they thought the Germans might invade.