There are very paradisiacal places in the world, however we only know its exterior, but what it keeps inside can be really amazing and even terrifying, is the case of an island located in the Caribbean Sea, at first sight it looks like an earthly paradise, but in the bottom of its waters it keeps the evidence of what it was in the past, and what was destroyed by the power of nature.
There are many Pirate Stories that are fascinating, and who does not like to watch a good movie, series or even read a good book about these great characters who sailed the seas of the world, when we talk about sin, these men and women who at that time were labeled as Pirates, earned the nickname of sinners, and their actions were not the most decent in the world, theft, uncontrolled sex, murder, among many other things they did, however these characters had a great refuge where their sins reigned the streets without shame. This is where our interesting island called Port Royal comes into play.
Located southeast of Jamaica, its strategic location made it a great safe harbor for any ship that anchored off its shores, this beautiful earthly place was sighted by Christopher Columbus on his voyages of exploration and according to some historians, the first thing Columbus said when he saw this place was: "The most beautiful island that eyes have ever seen". After his travels and exploration of the island, they began to colonize it, to such an extent that Port Royal became the first city of the New World, a sensation, in America and Europe spoke of this famous island, where the Spaniards took refuge and enjoyed its beautiful beaches. However, the good things are short-lived, it turns out that the Spanish Crown and the British Crown were enemies, both had their privateers, pirates, then there was the rivalry of who got more colonies, who dominated the market for jewelry, slaves and other things, it turns out that the British wanted to take over Hispaniola (now Haiti) and Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), but they did not count that these sites were well fortified.
When they were outnumbered, they returned frustrated, disappointed, imagine moving a whole fleet of ships, and then find that your worst enemy beat you with a lot of cunning, however not everything is bad in life, to undertake their return to London, they ran into Port Royal, the Spanish never thought that this island would cause a sensation in their archenemies, But they were wrong, in the year 1655 this paradisiacal place was invaded by the British, expelling the Spaniards, and turning this first city into the sensation of the world, a sort of Las Vegas, coastal version, the British were afraid that Spain would return to fight for what was theirs. So Port Royal, was converted into a city of bandits, mercenaries, pirates, privateers, who had the permission of the British Crown, to be present on this island, as long as they did not attack or kill inside it, then imagine, being on an island surrounded by murderers, rapists, looters, mercenaries, smugglers, the worst of the seas lived or visited Port Royal, In its streets you could see the most beautiful girls, dedicated to a millenary trade, prostitution, many offered their services in the most accessible way, in order to have easy money, if you were wanted on land, the best way to keep your freedom and even your life, was to hide in this island, many considered it as the Sodom of the new era, others as a city of sin.
As the years went by, Port Royal enjoyed a tremendous fame among the Old and New World, everyone wanted to visit this paradisiacal city, where sin reigned in its streets, commerce was prosperous, everything smuggled passed through there, in a short time this city became the bridge of the forbidden, of what was declared illegal, its lands were used for Tobacco and Sugar Cane, from there it was exported to several regions where these products were prohibited. But everything that begins badly, ends badly, unfortunately nothing is forever, in 1692 something happened that no one ever thought or prophesied, the city with more life in the Caribbean, the unique Port Royal, was destroyed by a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.5, which in a matter of seconds disappeared from the face of the earth all the structures that were in it, many experts estimate that about 5,000 people died in this place. The worst thing was not the earthquake, but what those who were left alive did, they looted what they found in the rubble, they took advantage of stealing what they could, and chaos reigned for a long time. According to one of the survivors, a privateer by the name of Edmund Heath, mentioned his experience in this terrible natural disaster: "The earth opened up and swallowed many people before me, and the sea rose up like a wall, and I came to the conclusion that it was impossible to escape".
Many people saw this as a divine punishment, even the most believers affirmed that this was the wrath of God, because he was tired of so many sins and so much evil that abounded in this city, and although we do not like to give an accurate opinion on these theories and opinions, we have to take into account something really curious, as the years went by Port Royal was rebuilt, however in 1703 a fierce fire ravaged the entire city, leaving it in ashes, in the following years strong hurricanes and even other earthquakes of a lesser magnitude were dedicated to prevent the rebirth of one of the most incredible cities of the XVII century, today Port Royal, is a city under the sea, at the bottom are the remains of what once was the most emblematic of the Caribbean Sea. Tell us, would you have liked to live in this city, do you think it was destroyed by a divine power?.
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