Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2017 | Page 542

PLACES OF INTEREST in St. Maarten
The 37-square-mile island of St. Maarten was first settled by the
Arawaks and was discovered by Christopher Columbus on behalf
of Spain in 1493. Columbus sighted the island on November 11th,
the holy day of St. Martin of Tours, and so named the island after
him.
For the next 150 years, the island was passed between Holland,
England, France and Spain. The old stone forts that guard many of
the island's inlets are proof of the island's turbulent past. In 1648
St. Maarten was peacefully divided between Holland and France,
and today is the smallest landmass in the world to be shared by
two sovereign nations.