Port Royal

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Lore & Background

Port Royal became home port to English government-sponsored privateers who were encouraged to attack Spanish vessels, at a time when many European nations were reluctant to attack the powerful Spanish fleet directly. As a port city, it was notorious for its gaudy displays of wealth and loose morals, with the privateer crews spending their treasure in the many taverns, gambling houses, and brothels which catered to the sailors. When the English government officially abandoned the practice of issuing letters of marque to privateers against the Spanish treasure fleets and possessions in South America in the later 17th century, many of the crews turned pirate to allow themselves to maintain their plundering illegally. Though Port Royal remained under English colonial control, pirates continued to use the city as their main base during the 17th century. Pirates from around the world congregated at Port Royal, coming from waters as far away as Madagascar. The town became notorious in folklore as "the wickedest city on Earth". After the 1692 disaster, Port Royal's commercial role was steadily taken over by the rapidly growing nearby town (and later, city) of Kingston.

In Their Own Story

The Taino historic indigenous people of the Caribbean occupied this area for centuries before European settlement. They used the area, which they called Caguay or Caguaya, during their fishing expeditions. The Spanish first landed in Jamaica in 1494 under the leadership of Christopher Columbus, leading to the destruction of the Taino population. Permanent settlement occurred when Juan de Esquivel brought a group of settlers in 1509. The town was captured by England in 1655 during the invasion of Jamaica. By 1659 two hundred houses, shops and warehouses had been built around the fort; by 1692 five forts defended the port. The English initially called the place Cagway but soon renamed it Port Royal. For much of the period between the English conquest and the 1692 earthquake, Port Royal served as the unofficial capital of Jamaica, while Spanish Town remained the official capital. In 1872 the government designated Kingston, the largest city, as the capital. Plans were developed in 1999 to redevelop the small fishing town as a heritage tourism destination to serve cruise ships.

Reader's Guide

Port Royal provided a safe harbour initially for privateers and subsequently for pirates plying the shipping lanes to and from Spain and Panama. Buccaneers found Port Royal appealing for several reasons. Its proximity to trade routes allowed them easy access to prey, but the most important advantage was the port's proximity to several of the only safe passages or straits giving access to the Spanish Main from the Atlantic. The harbour was large enough to accommodate their ships and the shallow waters provided a place to careen and repair these vessels with no difficulty. It was also ideally situated for launching raids on Spanish settlements. From Port Royal, Christopher Myngs sacked Campeche and Henry Morgan attacked Panama, Portobello, and Maracaibo. Additionally, buccaneers Roche Brasiliano, John Davis and Edward Mansvelt used Port Royal as a base of operations. In 1657, as a solution to his defence concerns, Governor Edward D'Oyley invited the Brethren of the Coast to come to Port Royal and make it their home port. The forced trade became almost a way of life in Port Royal. Michael Pawson and David Busseret wrote "...one way or the other nearly all the propertied inhabitants of Port Royal seem to have an interest in privateering."

Did You Know?

• Port Royal was destroyed by an earthquake on 7 June 1692 and its accompanying tsunami.
• By 1692, six forts defended the port of Port Royal.
• By 1661, there were about 40 taverns in total in Port Royal.
• At the height of its popularity, the city had one drinking house for every 10 residents.
• During a 20-year period that ended in 1692, nearly 10,000 people lived in Port Royal.

Cuba and Tia Dalma's Sanctuary

In the narrative geography of the film series, Cuba serves as a critical nexus for mysticism, specifically housing the swampy dwelling of Tia Dalma. Her shack, perched on wooden pylons within a cypress forest along the Pantano River, acts as a pivotal plot device where Jack Sparrow seeks aid after escaping Isla de Pelegostos. Although promotional materials and books sometimes suggest the location might be Isla de Pelegostos, official sources firmly place these coordinates in Cuba. Here, Dalma trades information regarding Davy Jones's heart for an undead monkey and provides Jack with protective dirt to ward off his destiny. The site later becomes a rallying point where Barbossa is resurrected to lead the rescue mission from Davy Jones's Locker. While the film implies a connection to Florida on maps showing Ponce de León, the actual filming of these bayou scenes took place in Dominica and at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, meticulously designed to replicate the atmospheric swamps essential to the story.

The Realm of Davy Jones' Locker

Davy Jones's Locker functions as a supernatural purgatory within the franchise, evolving from a nautical euphemism for the ocean floor into a tangible realm of the dead. This desolate dimension is where Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl are stranded after being dragged down by the Kraken, leaving them marooned in an arid desert where hallucinations plague the captain. The rescue mission orchestrated by Calypso involves navigating magical charts to reach this 'World's End,' a journey that reunites the crew with the ghost of Governor Swann. To escape, Jack must decipher clues and capsize his ship at sunset, triggering a green flash that restores them to the living world. The visual representation of this otherworldly plane was achieved through location shooting at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats for the desert sequences and California's Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes for the dramatic re-entry into the ocean, grounding the mythological concept in stark physical landscapes.

The Mythical Devil's Triangle

The Devil's Triangle is depicted as a pre-existing mythical zone in the Caribbean Sea, predating the famous Bermuda Triangle by centuries. While British cartographers labeled this region west of the Windward Isles as 'Uncharted Waters,' it holds dark significance for the character Jack Sparrow. In a flashback, a young Jack tricks Captain Armando Salazar and his Spanish Royal Navy crew into entering these waters, inadvertently cursing them to become undead ghosts aboard the Silent Mary. Decades later, this curse is unleashed when Henry Turner's British ship sails into the Triangle, resulting in a massacre that leaves Henry as the sole survivor to warn Jack. The area's magical properties are eventually nullified by Jack trading his compass for a drink, freeing Salazar's vengeful spirits to hunt down their nemesis across the seas.

Isla Cruces and the Dead Man's Chest

Isla Cruces is introduced as an abandoned tropical island serving as the burial site for Davy Jones's beating heart, which resides within the eponymous Dead Man's Chest. The location features crumbling buildings, a dilapidated church, and a graveyard, suggesting it was once inhabited but now stands deserted, possibly due to a plague according to the film's writers. This desolate setting becomes the stage for a tense three-way duel between Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Commodore James Norrington, who ultimately escapes with the chest to trade it to Cutler Beckett for a pardon. The mystery of why Jones chose this specific island remains unspoken in the film, though the production team utilized Vieille Case in Dominica for the interior structures and Little Exuma in The Bahamas for the beach duel scenes, creating a visually distinct atmosphere of decay and danger.