St. Peter Port is the capital of Guernsey, as well as the main port of the island. Population was 16,488 in 2001. In Guernesiais and in French, historically the official language of Guernsey, the name of the town and its surrounding parish is St Pierre Port. The "port" distinguishes this parish from Saint Pierre Du Bois.
As well as being a parish, St. Peter Port is a small town consisting mostly of steep narrow streets and steps on the overlooking slopes.
The post code for addresses in this parish starts with GY1.
People from St. Peter Port, were nicknamed "les Villais" (the townspeople) or "cllichards" in Guernésiais.
The land in the North and by the harbour is low lying but in the South, the land gets much higher (but not as high as St Martin's or the Forest). This means that there are quite a few cliffs on the coast between Havelet and Fermain.
Features
The Town Church-St Peter Port.
The features of the town include:
The Royal Court House, seat of the Bailiwick's government
Hauteville House, Victor Hugo's house of exile (now a museum run by the city of Paris)
The Town Church, the parish church of St Peter Port at the heart of the town
Castle Cornet, the historic fortress that guarded the strategic entrance to the port. The castle was formerly a tidal island but it is now joined by a breakwater to the enlarged harbour.