Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm. Next door, the
Weibel Museum
showcases
300 years of Jewish history. It keeps the same hours.
Retrace your steps (east) to Raadets Gade and turn south toward the water, crossing
the famous Vimmelskaft Gade or “Back Street” (it can get a bit seedy at night, so be
aware if you are walking after dark). Continue along Raadets Gade until you reach:
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Main Street
This is Charlotte Amalie's major artery and most famous shopping street. Turn
right (west) and walk along Main Street until you come to the mid-19th-century:
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Camille Pissarro Building
This structure will be on your right, at the Amsterdam Sauer Jewelry Store. Pis-
sarro, a Spanish Jew who became one of the founders of French Impressionism,
was born in this building as Jacob Pizarro in 1830. Before moving to Paris, he
worked for his father in a store on Main Street. Also housed in the building is
Gallery Camille Pissarro,
with a few Pissarro paintings on display and prints
by local artists for sale.
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Continuing west along Main Street, you will pass on your right the:
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Enid M. Baa Public Library
This building, formerly the von Bretton House, dates from 1818. Keep heading
west until you reach:
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Market Square
This was the center of a large slave-trading market before the 1848 emancipation
and is officially called Rothschild Francis Square. Today it's an open-air fruit and
vegetable market, selling, among other items,
genips
(grape-type fruit; to eat one,
break open the skin and suck the pulp off the pit). The wrought-iron roof covered
a railway station at the turn of the 20th century. The market is open Monday to
Saturday, its busiest day; hours vary, but it's busiest from 9am to 3pm.
If the
genip
doesn't satisfy you, take Strand Gade down (south) to:
20
The Waterfront
Also known as Kyst Vejen, this is where you can purchase a fresh coconut. One
of the vendors here will whack off the top with a machete so that you can drink
the sweet milk from its hull. You'll have an up-close view of one of the most
scenic harbors in the West Indies, though it's usually filled with cruise ships.
In His Footsteps: Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)
The dean of the French Impressionist
painters was the most famous resident
ever born on the island of St. Thomas.
Attracted by the work of Camille
Corot and, later, Gustave Courbet, Pis-
sarro moved in a lofty artistic circle of
friends that included Monet, Cézanne,
and Renoir. He painted landscapes
and scenes of rural life, and also some
portraits.
W
Birthplace:
Danish St. Thomas, July 10,
1830, son of Jewish parents of French/
Spanish extraction.
W
Residences:
The Pissarro Building, off
Main Street in Charlotte Amalie; Paris.
W
Resting Place:
Paris.
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