Tour Summary 

The Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) is 653 acres of history and culture. It has had a long and colourful history dating to the early days of black enslavement when the Hope, Papine and Mona sugar plantations dominated the landscape of the northern Liguanea Plain.

Interspersed among modern architecture, well-kept gardens and parks is physical evidence of past eras. The Mona Campus Culture and Heritage Tour is an exploration of this collection of artefacts and structures of historical and cultural significance located on the grounds. Among the outstanding landmarks on the campus are two national heritage sites, the eighteenth-century chapel and the ruins of an aqueduct that channelled water to waterwheels providing power for the sugar cane mills. Visible also are ruins of two old sugar works yards, all connected by a distinctive interlocking ring road system. The varied architecture of the Mona Campus ranges from the Georgian-style wooden structures which once housed international refugees from Gibraltar and Malta during the Second World War to the many contemporary buildings.

Historical ruins, art, obelisks and heritage structures are the bases of the Mona Campus Culture and Heritage Tour. They create an awareness and appreciation of the history embedded in the fabric of these grounds, telling the tale of the rise and fall of economic fortunes and changing personal histories as they have occurred on the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies.