Eleuthera

It is very long and narrow - 180 km long and in places about 2 km wide. Area - 484 km² (518 km² - including the islands of Harbor Island and Spanish Wells).

The original inhabitants of the island of Taino or Arawak ( Lukayan ) were almost all taken out by the Spaniards to work in the mines of Hispaniola , where they died out by 1550. It is believed that the island remained uninhabited until the arrival of the first European immigrants - known as "Eleutherian adventurers" who gave the island its current name. According to some reports, Christopher Columbus could land on Eleuthera before the other islands of the West Indies .

The island flourished from 1950 to 1980, attracting a number of well-known American industrialists such as Arthur Weining Davis , Henry Kaiser and Juan Tripp . Among the frequent visitors to the island were movie stars like Robert De Niro , as well as Prince Charles and the pregnant Princess Diana .

Due to changes in the policy regarding foreign property after the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, all major resorts and agricultural enterprises were abandoned or forced to be sold to the Bahamians, who are located in the government. Due to the difficulties of the newly formed state, some enterprises went bankrupt during 1980-1985. Today, there are a number of abandoned resorts on the island, including Rock Sound Club, Club Med in Governor's Harbor, and Cape Eleuthera Resort.

Most of the current resorts of Eluthera are located on the nearby island of Harbor ( Harbor ), although several resorts remain on the island itself. Around 2004, interest in Eleuthera began to grow. As of 2006, a number of projects are planned for onshore construction, including a Bahamian-owned resort worth $ 300 million in Cotton Bay and a new construction project in Powell Point, Cape Eleuthera.

Eleuthera Island is administratively divided into three areas:

• Central Eleuthera
• North Eleuthera
• South Eleuthera

Two more areas comprise the nearby islands:

• Harbor Island
• Spanish Wells ( Spanish Wells )

Harbor Island and Spanish Wells guarantee a unique experience. Eleuthera Island itself attracts history buffs and nature lovers. Natural monuments include Glass Window Bridge , Hatchet Bay caves and Surfer's Beach in the north, Ocean Hole and Lighthouse Beach at the southern tip of the island. For history buffs, the priest’s cave ( Preacher's Cave ) is located in the northern part of the island, where in the middle of the 17th century eleutherian adventurers lived and where burial sites of Arawak were found in recent excavations.

The main settlements are Governor's Harbor (administrative center), Rock Sound ( Rock Sound ), Tarpum Bay (the last surviving fishing village), Harbor Island ( Eng. Harbor Island ) with unique pink sandy beaches and Spanish Wells. The island is famous for its magnificent pineapples ; in the city of Gregory Town, a pineapple festival is held annually.

To the south of Deep Creek (Creek Deep ), the Cape Eleuthera Foundation , founded by Chris Maxie of the elite Lawrenceville School of New Jersey (USA), creates the island's reputation as a research center. Under the auspices of the foundation on the territory of the island school, high school students are offered a semester program ^[2] , as well as equipment for conducting research on the college curriculum through the Cape Eleuthera Institute , where recently ^{[ when? ]} the first intersystem line solar panels-power system in the Bahamas was opened.

• Bahamas

• Eleuthera // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• Map of Elutera Island
• Cape Eleuthera Island School Website (Neopr.) (Link not available) . Date of treatment July 5, 2019. Archived November 25, 2018. (eng.)
• About North Eleuthera Island
• Elutera Island Hotels