St. John's Cathedral

Construction took place from 1812 to 1820, during the British settlement of what became British Honduras. Wikipedia says the church was the first built in the colony and that the British built it with slave labour. The exterior is brick, and a commonly repeated account says the bricks arrived as ship ballast, a detail Wikipedia also records and that the Belize City article describes as orange bricks. Inside, the finish is of mahogany and sapodilla, local hardwoods that reflect the logging economy that created Belize Town.

The building began as a parish church and became a cathedral in 1891, a few years after the Diocese of Belize was established. It has been altered by renovations over the years. The interior includes a high altar, sanctuary, pipe organ and memorial plaques.

Next to the church lies Yarborough Cemetery, which Wikipedia describes as the first cemetery in British Honduras, used from 1787 to 1896 for members of the colonial Anglican Church; Belize's National Institute of Culture and History gives 1792 for the opening and 1881 for its official closure. It is named for a magistrate who owned the land, and one account says a Bayman of that name gave it to the government on condition it be kept as a burial ground. A 1999 renovation added perimeter fencing, landscaping and a marble memorial wall listing the names and contributions of those buried there, and Wikipedia says the government designated the site an archaeological reserve in 2009, although a 2001 Channel 5 Belize report already describes it as a declared reserve. Guides note the tombstones of many prominent figures of the former colony.

The cathedral is known for hosting the coronations of Miskito kings. The Miskito Kingdom lay along the Caribbean coast of what is now Nicaragua and Honduras and had long ties with Britain. Wikipedia's article on the Mosquito Coast says George Frederic Augustus I was crowned in Belize on 16 January 1816, ending a regency, while a travel source gives 18 January, so the exact day varies. The same article says his successor Robert Charles Frederic repeated the Belize coronation in 1845, although its own king list gives 1824 to 1841 for his reign, an internal conflict. One source says four Miskito kings were crowned in the church between 1815 and 1845. Historians describe the ceremonies as an effort by the British to keep the Miskito on their side while competing with Spain for influence along the coast. Wikipedia's Belize City article calls it the only Anglican cathedral outside England where kings have been crowned.

The cathedral stands in the old colonial centre of Belize City, founded as Belize Town in 1638 and devastated by the hurricane of 1931 and by Hurricane Hattie in 1961. Its neighbours include the Museum of Belize and the Swing Bridge over Haulover Creek, so a private walking visit can combine all three, with a private vehicle and driver for transfers.