After a year of closed doors and $19 million in renovations, Charleston’s Charles Towne Landing has begun welcoming visitors back.

The site on Albemarle Point was the spot where settlers sailing from Barbados in 1670 made the first permanent European settlement in the Carolinas.

Today, archaeologists are taking steps to highlight all the history this point holds – Native American, early European settlers, and even Gullah. A Native American burial site is marked, and other new exhibits display how the newcomers made this area home.

The 665-acre site also holds Animal Forest, a zoo home to species the settlers would have encountered, including pumas and bears. Additionally, Adventure, a full-size and functional replica of the kind of 17th-century sailing ship that traders used is on display.