King's Wharf City/Region: The West A former Royal Naval Dockyard (between 1814 and 1951), turned tourist resort, King's Wharf is a favorite port of call for cruise liners visiting Bermuda. The old Georgian maritime fort has been re-invented into a playground for the thousands of passengers who come ashore to enjoy themselves, do some sight-seeing, head off for nearby beaches or world-class golf courses, or take any of a number of shore excursions on offer. The old buildings of the dockyard, constructed by convicts from prison ships and once known as the 'Gibraltar of
the West', have been cleverly adapted to suit the new resort role. The old Keep is now a fascinating Maritime Museum and headquarters for dolphin excursions, and what was once the Royal Navy administrative headquarters has become the Clocktower Mall shopping center. A lively pub now occupies the old cooperage, where barrels were made, along with an art center, craft market and cinema. In the buildings where strategic repair work was once carried out there are now a pottery studio and glassworks enterprises in operation, and the victualling yard has become the Visitor Information Center. The original purpose of the dockyard was as a base for the Royal Navy to launch a raid on Washington DC, but now it is itself invaded every day by hundreds of American citizens, and others from around the world, who come for fun in the sun.
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