Mustique
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mustique | |
| — Private Island — | |
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| Coordinates: 12°52′N 61°11′W / 12.867°N 61.183°W | |
| Country | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
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| Island chain | the Grenadines |
| Owner | the Mustique Company |
| European Discovery | 15th century by Spanish sailors |
| Area | |
| - Total | 2.2 sq mi (5.7 km2) |
| Population | |
| - Total | 500 |
| - Peak season | 1,300 |
| Website | The Mustique Company |
Mustique is a small private island in the West Indies where the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet. The island is one of a group of islands called the Grenadines, most of which (including Mustique) form part of the country of St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The island covers 1,400 acres (5.7 km² or 2.2 sq. miles) and it has several coral reefs. The land fauna includes tortoises, herons and many other species. Its year-round population of about 500 live in the villages of Lovell, Britannia Bay and Dover.
The island of Mustique is "owned" (actually is on a long-term lease from the government of St. Vincent & the Grenadines) by the Mustique Company, which in turn is owned by the island's home owners. The island has approximately 90 private villas, many of which are rented out by the Mustique Company. There are also two privately-owned hotels on the island (The Cotton House and Firefly).
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[edit] Residents and guests
Because of its luxury and isolation, Mustique has over the years attracted a number of the rich and famous: Amy Winehouse, Noel Gallagher, Princess Margaret, Mick Jagger, Bryan Adams, Shania Twain, Kate Moss, David Duchovny and Tea Leoni, Felix Dennis, David Bowie, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugh Grant, Kate Middleton, Prince William, Robert Worcester, Jack Diamond and Nigella Lawson. Those who still have homes on the island can sometimes be seen at Basil's Beach Bar.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip made a private visit to Mustique in the 1960s [1]
[edit] Early history
The history of the island of Mustique, and of the Grenadines in general, dates back to the 15th century when Spanish sailors first sighted this more or less linear group of small rocky islands and named them 'Los Pájaros' or 'the birds', because they resembled a small flock of birds scattered across the sea in flight. During the 17th century the islands were renamed the Grenadines by pirates, who used the sheltered bays to hide their ships and treasure. The islands were later utilized by European planters to grow sugar cane, up until the development in the nineteenth century of extracting sugar from sugar beet, a crop which could be grown successfully in Europe, thus dramatically lessening the worldwide demand for tropical sugar.
Mustique's sugar plantations were abandoned and eventually swallowed up by scrub, leaving remnants such as the sugar mill at 'Endeavor' and its 'Cotton House.'
[edit] Recent history
Mustique was purchased in 1958 by Lord Glenconner, Colin Tennant, 3rd Baron Glenconner, under whose guidance the island began to be developed. British Princess Margaret accepted his gift of a 10-acre (40,000 m2) plot of land as a wedding present in 1960, and she built a residence called Les Jolies Eaux. In 1989 Mustique Island was transformed from a family estate into a private limited company with the homeowners as shareholders.
In 1971 the SS Antilles struck a reef not far off of the island, and sank.
[edit] Basil's Bar and Basil Charles
The island has one nightspot which is attended both by Vincentians and the "jet set", and that is Basil's Bar, which is well-known internationally (Coordinates:12°52′51″N 61°11′18″W / 12.8807°N 61.1882°W). Local entrepreneur Basil Charles has been on the island for over 30 years, and in addition to the bar, Basil owns the clothing boutique, the antique shop and the wine store. Basil's Bar is also home to the Mustique Blues Festival which features artists in many modern music genres from all over the world. Proceeds from the sale of the festival's CDs and t-shirts fund the Basil Charles Educational Fund, an organization that gives educational chances to children in St. Vincent and the Grenadines who would otherwise not be able to afford school.
[edit] Mustique pictures
 Mustique International Airport |
 The general store |
 Beaches on the east coast |
 A villa |
[edit] References
For many years the artist Stefan Szczesny has been working on the island. He produced several art works and books about Mustique.
- Stefan Szczesny: Szczesny. Mustique. teNeues Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Kempen 47906, ISBN 3-8238-5591-3
- The Mustique Book by Stefan Szczesny
[edit] External links
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Look up mustique in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
