Saint-Pierre, Martinique

The City that Arose from the Ashes


Saint Pierre on fire
Panoramic view of Saint-Pierre at dusk.
About to leave
Believers leave Saint Pierre Cathedral.
religious greeting
Conductor of a bus that brought dozens of faithful to a Marian meeting in Saint Pierre.
Mass II
Faithful during a Marian Mass in the city's cathedral.
Notre Dame de Bonport
Statue of Notre Dame de Bon Port blesses Saint Pierre and its fishermen and navigators.
under observation
Visitors to the Pelée Mountain observe the slope of the volcano.
Missa
Believer gathered in white during a mass in the cathedral of Saint Pierre.
Saint Pierre House
Casario de Saint Pierre, with the eponymous rusty cathedral highlighted.
Outgoing II
Believers leave the church at the end of a homily, part of the Marian meeting taking place in Saint Pierre Cathedral.
In case of rain, in case of sun
Betty Moustin, a Marian believer descends from a viewpoint above Saint Pierre, blessed with the statue of the virgin.
the hours it is
Old clock from the library of Saint Pierre.
Unceremonious meal
Two faithful have lunch on a break from a Marian encounter in Saint-Pierre.
Notre Dame de Bon Port II
Statue of the Virgin Mary, rebuilt after being destroyed by the eruption of the Pelée volcano.
The Pelée Volcano
The mountain volcano Pelée that, in 1900, razed Saint-Pierre.
In 1900, the economic capital of the Antilles was envied for its Parisian sophistication, until the Pelée volcano charred and buried it. More than a century later, Saint-Pierre is still regenerating.

A photogenic route, full of curves, counter-curves and spontaneous stops to contemplate the lush tropical sceneries had held us back too often and delayed us beyond repair.

The day was already over when we finally reached the beginning of the trail that led to the volcano's crater, then hidden behind a blanket of low white clouds.

A few walkers returned exhausted from those veiled heights and indulged in life-saving meals at the bar located next to the car park. Others, in obvious improvisation, tried to see if there was still time to go up.

Visitors Monte Pelee, Saint Pierre, Martinique, French Antilles

Visitors to the Pelée Mountain observe the slope of the volcano.

We follow a couple who use binoculars to discover what those heights were made of. Like them, we decided to postpone the expedition. We knew the terrifying reputation of the Martinique vipers. Still, we were left to explore the damp slope where the tall grass and remaining weeds had subsumed any sign of lava.

Shortly thereafter, we return to the serpentine road, skirt the broad foothills of the mountain and point out the Fort-de-France.

The morning brings the blazing sun back over the capital but also the desired weekend. A street band occupies a dark corner next to an uncharacteristic shopping center and enlivens the square with their choir voices, synchronized drums of jambés and other percussion instruments.

San Chénn Ensemble, Fort de France-Martinique, French Antihas

Band San Chénn plays in a street in Fort-de-France.

We found out it's the San Chènn. We never questioned them but, by name, we infer that their motive was the celebration of the island's native culture and, more than that, the liberation of slaves from the long subjection to the French settlers who, two weeks later, would have their ephemeris there.

Ludger Cylbaris was born in 1875, almost three decades after Governor Victor Schoelcher signed the abolition of slavery in the territory. It enjoyed, therefore, an existential autonomy that was unthinkable until a few years ago.

But in one of so many days of excessive alcohol in Saint-Pierre, he became involved in a conflict with a fellow countryman whom he wounded with a knife. He was sentenced to one month in prison. Near the end of the sentence, he escaped.

Captured again, he saw his sentence increased by eight days. Ironically, this aggravation of punishment would save him from a tragic end and promote him to the status of eccentric and bewildered hero of the predominant Afro community in the French overseas province.

This explained why the San Chènn repeated his name over and over again, as part of the chorus of a song that portrays and immortalizes him. However, we still lacked the discovery of the village in which he had lived and the most burning episode of his existence as a guinea pig of destiny.

We head north, almost always with the west coast of the Caribbean Sea in sight and along a coastline shortened by steep slopes. Saint-Pierre would not be long.

The tropical breath is stronger than ever when we reach the entrance to the city. We ignored the coastal breeze and headed down a slope that a sign lost in the vegetation confirmed, leading us to a semi-promontory.

Pilgrims, Saint pierre-martinica, French Antilles

Christian believer walks along part of the ramp that leads to the Notre Dame de Bon Port viewpoint.

We only get halfway when we have to interrupt the car's laborious march. A platoon of talkative ladies in white Eucharistic garb descends and blocks the road.

Betty Moustin asks us if we are going to the viewpoint: “We just came from there. It's a special place”, she assures us, smiling, as if inspired by a vision.

It was May. We realized that they were part of a Marian pilgrimage to the city and that they were returning from praying on that summit. We completed the ascension. A final descending grass trail leads to the platform.

From there, the more distant Pelée Mountain and the bay filled by the Caribbean Sea defined an unforgettable scene.

Casario, Saint Pierre, Martinique, French Antilles

Casario de Saint Pierre, with the eponymous rusty cathedral highlighted.

In between, the reddish and white houses of Saint-Pierre stood out, rejuvenated, between the gray sand that the village had taken by storm and the leafy cliff opposite.

The fascination proved instantaneous but prolonged. We agreed that a painting like that had to be seen in a decent light. We promise to return in good time and descend back to the heart of the city.

Believers Cathedral, Saint Pierre, Martinique, French Antilles

Believers leave Saint Pierre Cathedral.

Hundreds of devotees circulate around the cathedral and between the temple and a communal house that serves them meals and religious gatherings. Shortly thereafter, a mass begins.

The church is filled with worshipers from all over Martinique who fight the heat with handkerchiefs, fans and other practical flaps.

faithful at mass, saint pierre, martinique, french antilles

Faithful during a Marian Mass in the city's cathedral.

Despite the gaudy green Afro dress and the crisp yellow turban that crowns her and sets her apart from the crowd,

Fedia also has her role in the event: “why am I so colorful? Well… it may not seem like it but I'm a driver and I like to cheer up my passengers. I brought a bus full of believers from Sainte Marie to here. Now I'm waiting to take them back.”

bus driver, saint pierre-martinica, french antilles

Conductor of a bus that brought dozens of faithful to a Marian meeting in Saint Pierre.

Only going back more than 100 years could we find a Saint-Pierre so exuberant and busy. When we visit the ruins of the cell that held Cylbaris, we are faced with the calamity suffered by the former capital of Martinique and the fate reserved for the prisoner.

At the turn of the 1889th century, the Pelée Mountain was considered a dormant volcano even if, since 1902 and, especially in April XNUMX, there was some activity of sulfur fumes in the crater.

From the end of the month, the mountain imposed several geological whims. It projected small samples of ash, then rocks, produced earthquakes, made the sea move back 100 meters, and then return to the normal waterline, among several other manifestations.

Finally, on the morning of May 8, Ascension Day, the inhabitants observed glows on the summit of the volcano.

Monte Pelée, Saint Pierre, Martinique, French Antilles

The mountain volcano Pelée that, in 1900, razed Saint-Pierre.

The telegraph operator transmitted, however, the Fort-de-France a report without any development that ended with “Allez”, with which, at 7:52 am, he gave the floor to the interlocutor. The next moment, the line was cut.

The crew of a telegraph repair boat witnessed what happened. A dense black burning cloud spread horizontally from the base of the volcano.

A second, monstrous, mushroom-shaped and composed of dust, vapors, ash and volcanic gases was visible 100km away. Later, it was calculated that the initial speed of both would have been almost 670 km/hour. The temperature inside rose to 1000º.

Saint-Pierre succumbed to that hell regurgitated from the depths of the Earth. Of the people who were in the city, 28.000, almost all of the inhabitants, perished.

But, as the popular theme sung by the San Chènn recounts, Ludger Cylbaris was not one of them.

Protected by the wide walls of the windowless cell that held him, the prisoner was rescued three days later by a man from Morne-Rouge who heard his screams. He had suffered painful burns on his body but he resisted.

The event quickly traveled the world. Thus also spread the fame of the lucky Cylbaris who, shortly afterwards, would be recruited by the American circus Barnum, to show himself and his burns, on an international tour, as the only miraculous survivor of the catastrophe.

Anchored sailboat, Saint pierre-martinica, French Antilles

Sailboats anchored off Saint Pierre.

At the time, Saint-Pierre was the economic capital of Martinique and the Antilles.

The sugar trade attracted boats from all over the world to its cove, and the proceeds from this financed one of the first electric urban lighting networks in the Americas, a horse-drawn trolleybus, an 800-seat theater, a botanical garden and a hyperactive port.

In a few minutes, the elegant mountain that had long lived in the city reduced it to rubble and coal.

As planned, when the afternoon begins to close, we go back up to the viewpoint and submit ourselves to the haughty supervision of the statue of Notre Dame du Bon Port, which was also knocked down and removed from its original place by the eruption and later placed there. high pedestal as if to preserve the city from a new hecatomb.

statue notre dame bon port, saint pierre, martinique, french antilles

Statue of Notre Dame de Bon Port blesses Saint Pierre and its fishermen and navigators.

A few years after the destruction, absent residents and other outsiders joined forces to recover the first buildings. With the passage of time, the urban structure was effectively restored to the embellished aspect that we can see from there.

We see the sun setting, in a hurry, over the sea. The twilight sets in and the urban lighting gains vigor, reinforced by the light trails left by the vehicles that cross each other in the geometric grid.

panoramica st pierre, saint pierre, martinique, french antilles

Panoramic view of Saint-Pierre at dusk.

Residents and visitors celebrate the end of another welcoming Caribbean day on the esplanades of the coastal street and aboard some sailboats off the coast. Little by little, Saint-Pierre is taken by the ocher of a tenuous fire that is reflected in the adjoining bay and contrasts with the superb blackness of the Pelée mountain.

The image refers to the tragedy that almost erased it from the XNUMXth century, but even without the glow of other times, the Paris of the Caribbean shows signs of life.

Chã das Caldeiras, Fogo Island Cape Verde

A "French" Clan at the Mercy of Fire

In 1870, a Count born in Grenoble on his way to Brazilian exile, made a stopover in Cape Verde where native beauties tied him to the island of Fogo. Two of his children settled in the middle of the volcano's crater and continued to raise offspring there. Not even the destruction caused by the recent eruptions deters the prolific Montrond from the “county” they founded in Chã das Caldeiras.    
Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park Indonesia

The Volcanic Sea of ​​Java

The gigantic Tengger caldera rises 2000m in the heart of a sandy expanse of east Java. From it project the highest mountain of this Indonesian island, the Semeru, and several other volcanoes. From the fertility and clemency of this sublime as well as Dantesque setting, one of the few Hindu communities that resisted the Muslim predominance around, thrives.
Martinique, French Antilles

The Armpit Baguette Caribbean

We move around Martinique as freely as the Euro and the tricolor flags fly supreme. But this piece of France is volcanic and lush. Lies in the insular heart of the Americas and has a delicious taste of Africa.
Cilaos, Reunion Island

Refuge under the roof of the Indian Ocean

Cilaos appears in one of the old green boilers on the island of Réunion. It was initially inhabited by outlaw slaves who believed they were safe at that end of the world. Once made accessible, nor did the remote location of the crater prevent the shelter of a village that is now peculiar and flattered.
Volcanoes

Mountains of Fire

More or less prominent ruptures in the earth's crust, volcanoes can prove to be as exuberant as they are capricious. Some of its eruptions are gentle, others prove annihilating.
La Palma, Canary IslandsSpain

The Most Mediatic of the Cataclysms to Happen

The BBC reported that the collapse of a volcanic slope on the island of La Palma could generate a mega-tsunami. Whenever the area's volcanic activity increases, the media take the opportunity to scare the world.
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The Nostalgic Projectionist

From 1954 to 1983, Gérard Pierre screened many of the famous films arriving in Martinique. 30 years after the closing of the room in which he worked, it was still difficult for this nostalgic native to change his reel.
Big Island, Hawaii

Searching for Rivers of Lava

There are five volcanoes that make the big island of Hawaii grow day by day. Kilauea, the most active on Earth, is constantly releasing lava. Despite this, we live a kind of epic to envision it.
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Guadeloupe: A Delicious Caribbean, in Counter-Butterfly Effect

Guadeloupe is shaped like a moth. A trip around this Antille is enough to understand why the population is governed by the motto Pas Ni Problem and raises the minimum of waves, despite the many setbacks.
Fort-de-France, Martinique

Freedom, Bipolarity and Tropicality

The capital of Martinique confirms a fascinating Caribbean extension of French territory. There, the relations between the colonists and the natives descended from slaves still give rise to small revolutions.
Residents walk along the trail that runs through plantations above the UP4
City
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Through the Mozambican Lands of Tea

The Portuguese founded Gurué in the 1930th century and, from XNUMX onwards, flooded it with camellia sinensis the foothills of the Namuli Mountains. Later, they renamed it Vila Junqueiro, in honor of its main promoter. With the independence of Mozambique and the civil war, the town regressed. It continues to stand out for the lush green imposing mountains and teak landscapes.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beach
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
Duo of giraffes crossing paths above the savannah, with the Libombo Mountains in the background
safari
KaMsholo Bush Safaris, eSwatini

Among the KaMsholo Giraffes and Co.

Located east of the Libombo mountain range, the natural border between eSwatini, Mozambique and South Africa, KaMsholo has 700 hectares of savannah dotted with acacia trees and a lake, habitats for a prolific fauna. Among other explorations and excursions, we interacted with the largest of species there.
Thorong La, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, photo for posterity
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 13th - High camp a Thorong La to Muktinath, Nepal

At the height of the Annapurnas Circuit

At 5416m of altitude, the Thorong La Gorge is the great challenge and the main cause of anxiety on the itinerary. After having killed 2014 climbers in October 29, crossing it safely generates a relief worthy of double celebration.
Architecture & Design
Cemeteries

the last address

From the grandiose tombs of Novodevichy, in Moscow, to the boxed Mayan bones of Pomuch, in the Mexican province of Campeche, each people flaunts its own way of life. Even in death.
The small lighthouse at Kallur, highlighted in the capricious northern relief of the island of Kalsoy.
Aventura
Kalsoy, Faroe Islands

A Lighthouse at the End of the Faroese World

Kalsoy is one of the most isolated islands in the Faroe archipelago. Also known as “the flute” due to its long shape and the many tunnels that serve it, a mere 75 inhabitants inhabit it. Much less than the outsiders who visit it every year, attracted by the boreal wonder of its Kallur lighthouse.
Ceremonies and Festivities
Look-alikes, Actors and Extras

Make-believe stars

They are the protagonists of events or are street entrepreneurs. They embody unavoidable characters, represent social classes or epochs. Even miles from Hollywood, without them, the world would be more dull.
Residents chat at one of the entrances to the great mosque in Zomba
Cities
Zomba, Malawi

The Inaugural, Colonial Capital of Malawi

The British developed Zomba as the capital of their territories on the shores of Lake Nyasa. From 1964 to 1974, independent Malawi extended its prominence. With its demotion to Lilongwe the following year, Zomba became a city with prodigious colonial architecture and stunning scenery at the foot of the eponymous plateau.
Lunch time
World Food

Gastronomy Without Borders or Prejudice

Each people, their recipes and delicacies. In certain cases, the same ones that delight entire nations repel many others. For those who travel the world, the most important ingredient is a very open mind.
Conversation between photocopies, Inari, Babel Parliament of the Sami Lapland Nation, Finland
Culture
Inari, Finland

The Babel Parliament of the Sami Nation

The Sami Nation comprises four countries, which ingest into the lives of their peoples. In the parliament of Inari, in various dialects, the Sami govern themselves as they can.
Reindeer Racing, Kings Cup, Inari, Finland
Sport
Inari, Finland

The Wackiest Race on the Top of the World

Finland's Lapps have been competing in the tow of their reindeer for centuries. In the final of the Kings Cup - Porokuninkuusajot - , they face each other at great speed, well above the Arctic Circle and well below zero.
Alaska, by Homer in Search of Whittier
Traveling
Homer a Whittier, Alaska

In Search of the Stealth Whittier

We leave Homer in search of Whittier, a refuge built in World War II and housing two hundred or so people, almost all in a single building.
San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Zapatismo, Mexico, San Nicolau Cathedral
Ethnic
San Cristobal de Las Casas, Mexico

The Home Sweet Home of Mexican Social Conscience

Mayan, mestizo and Hispanic, Zapatista and tourist, country and cosmopolitan, San Cristobal has no hands to measure. In it, Mexican and expatriate backpacker visitors and political activists share a common ideological demand.
View of Fa Island, Tonga, Last Polynesian Monarchy
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Exotic Signs of Life

History
Nelson to Wharariki, Abel Tasman NP, New Zealand

The Maori coastline on which Europeans landed

Abel Janszoon Tasman explored more of the newly mapped and mythical "Terra australis" when a mistake soured the contact with natives of an unknown island. The episode inaugurated the colonial history of the New Zealand. Today, both the divine coast on which the episode took place and the surrounding seas evoke the Dutch navigator.
Teide Volcano, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Islands
Tenerife, Canary Islands

The Volcano that Haunts the Atlantic

At 3718m, El Teide is the roof of the Canaries and Spain. Not only. If measured from the ocean floor (7500 m), only two mountains are more pronounced. The Guanche natives considered it the home of Guayota, their devil. Anyone traveling to Tenerife knows that old Teide is everywhere.
coast, fjord, Seydisfjordur, Iceland
Winter White
Seydisfjordur, Iceland

From the Art of Fishing to the Fishing of Art

When shipowners from Reykjavik bought the Seydisfjordur fishing fleet, the village had to adapt. Today, it captures Dieter Roth's art disciples and other bohemian and creative souls.
Baie d'Oro, Île des Pins, New Caledonia
Literature
Île-des-Pins, New Caledonia

The Island that Leaned against Paradise

In 1964, Katsura Morimura delighted the Japan with a turquoise novel set in Ouvéa. But the neighboring Île-des-Pins has taken over the title "The Nearest Island to Paradise" and thrills its visitors.
Northern Lights, Laponia, Rovaniemi, Finland, Fire Fox
Nature
Lapland, Finland

In Search of the Fire Fox

Unique to the heights of the Earth are the northern or southern auroras, light phenomena generated by solar explosions. You Sami natives from Lapland they believed it to be a fiery fox that spread sparkles in the sky. Whatever they are, not even the nearly 30 degrees below zero that were felt in the far north of Finland could deter us from admiring them.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Hippopotamus moves in the flooded expanse of the Elephant Plain.
Natural Parks
Maputo National Park, Mozambique

The Wild Mozambique between the Maputo River and the Indian Ocean

The abundance of animals, especially elephants, led to the creation of a Hunting Reserve in 1932. After the hardships of the Mozambican Civil War, the Maputo PN protects prodigious ecosystems in which fauna proliferates. With emphasis on the pachyderms that have recently become too many.
Kayaking on Lake Sinclair, Cradle Mountain - Lake Sinclair National Park, Tasmania, Australia
UNESCO World Heritage
Discovering tassie, Part 4 - Devonport to Strahan, Australia

Through the Tasmanian Wild West

If the almost antipode tazzie is already a australian world apart, what about its inhospitable western region. Between Devonport and Strahan, dense forests, elusive rivers and a rugged coastline beaten by an almost Antarctic Indian ocean generate enigma and respect.
Heroes Acre Monument, Zimbabwe
Characters
Harare, Zimbabwewe

The Last Rales of Surreal Mugabué

In 2015, Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe said the 91-year-old president would rule until the age of 100 in a special wheelchair. Shortly thereafter, it began to insinuate itself into his succession. But in recent days, the generals have finally precipitated the removal of Robert Mugabe, who has replaced him with former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Cahuita, Costa Rica, Caribbean, beach
Beaches
Cahuita, Costa Rica

An Adult Return to Cahuita

During a backpacking tour of Costa Rica in 2003, the Caribbean warmth of Cahuita delights us. In 2021, after 18 years, we return. In addition to an expected, but contained modernization and hispanization of the town, little else had changed.
Christmas scene, Shillong, Meghalaya, India
Religion
Shillong, India

A Christmas Selfiestan at an India Christian Stronghold

December arrives. With a largely Christian population, the state of Meghalaya synchronizes its Nativity with that of the West and clashes with the overcrowded Hindu and Muslim subcontinent. Shillong, the capital, shines with faith, happiness, jingle bells and bright lighting. To dazzle Indian holidaymakers from other parts and creeds.
Executives sleep subway seat, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan
On Rails
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's Hypno-Passengers

Japan is served by millions of executives slaughtered with infernal work rates and sparse vacations. Every minute of respite on the way to work or home serves them for their inemuri, napping in public.
Society
Arduous Professions

the bread the devil kneaded

Work is essential to most lives. But, certain jobs impose a degree of effort, monotony or danger that only a few chosen ones can measure up to.
Ditching, Alaska Fashion Life, Talkeetna
Daily life
Talkeetna, Alaska

Talkeetna's Alaska-Style Life

Once a mere mining outpost, Talkeetna rejuvenated in 1950 to serve Mt. McKinley climbers. The town is by far the most alternative and most captivating town between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Jeep crosses Damaraland, Namibia
Wildlife
Damaraland, Namíbia

Namibia On the Rocks

Hundreds of kilometers north of Swakopmund, many more of Swakopmund's iconic dunes Sossuvlei, Damaraland is home to deserts interspersed with hills of reddish rock, the highest mountain and ancient rock art of the young nation. the settlers South Africans they named this region after the Damara, one of the Namibian ethnic groups. Only these and other inhabitants prove that it remains on Earth.
Full Dog Mushing
Scenic Flights
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.