[Lee Stewart]

Until 1997, the tiny island of Montserrat — an overseas territory of the U.K. in the Lesser Antilles, West Indies — had been enjoying a bit of a tourism boom. The British isle 27 miles southwest of Antigua was where Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder recorded at Sir George Martin's Air Studios. It's also the only country that celebrates St. Patrick's Day as a national holiday aside from Ireland



But Plymouth, the island's once thriving capital and only port of entry at the time, was leveled by a huge volcanic eruption that destroyed much of the city and its surrounding vegetation. The capital — now the Pompeii of the Caribbean — was abandoned permanently in 1997. The Caribbean island is making a comeback, but the volcano remains a wild card and access to Plymouth is still controlled strictly. The stark, buried city is striking compared with the rest of the lush green island.