The cap­i­tal of St. John’s served as the defense of the island, help­ing to repel the attacks of pirates and con­querors. The for­ti­fi­ca­tions built in 1675 have sur­vived to this day. Can­nons, bar­racks for sol­diers, a large pow­der mag­a­zine and pre­served for­ti­fi­ca­tions attract crowds of tourists who are able to appre­ci­ate an impor­tant his­tor­i­cal mon­u­ment.