Churches of Providenciales
The island of Providenciales , and even more so if you consider the entirety of the Turks and Caicos, has one of the highest church per person ratios in the world.
On Providenciales, many of the island’s churches are found in one of the three original settlements of Blue Hills, The Bight, and Five Cays.
Churches Throughout the Turks and Caicos
Providenciales did not support the thriving sea salt industries that Grand Turk, Salt Cay, and South Caicos had, and likewise never had the extensive Loyalist cotton and sisal plantations of North Caicos and Middle Caicos, so consequently the income to the island in past centuries was never great.
Churches of the time were often a reflection of the present society and economic stability, and until the advent of the modern tourism industry in the 1980s Providenciales was a very quiet island and simply couldn’t afford to build the larger places of worship that were constructed on the salt producing islands.
Grand Turk is home to many historical churches, some of which were constructed from Bermudian cut limestone and tropical hardwoods.
The Turks and Caicos has long been a British territory, so from the 1700s to 1866 the Anglican Church was sponsored (to a small degree) by the government.
Unlike the colonial-era churches on Grand Turk, South Caicos, and Salt Cay, nearly all of the Providenciales places of worship are modern. Today, the largest churches in the country are found on Providenciales, and include such sites as the Faith Tabernacle Church of God and the Holy Cross Catholic Church near Downtown, and the Paradise Baptist Church in Five Cays.
Churches on Providenciales
