Mountainous beauty and colorful batik A MSC Southern Caribbean cruise to St. Kitts and Nevis will introduce you to the sister volcanic islands of the Caribbean, which for more than 200 years have been a premier destination for elite tourists and in the 19th and 20th centuries served as a haven for European nobility. Basseterre, founded by the French in 1625, became the capital of St. Kitts in 1727, when the English took over the island. It remained under British rule until the islands declared their independence in 1983. Throughout the city’s long history, natural disasters and conflicts have afflicted Basseterre; most buildings date from the latter part of the 1800s. A visit to the city’s two cathedrals, St. George’s Anglican Church and the Catholic Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, appeal to those with a love of history and architecture. On South Square Street, visit the Georgian House, one of the better-preserved examples of local 18th-century architecture.