Saint-Pierre
Martinique · 10 m
Description
Saint-Pierre was the richest city in the Caribbean and was called the little Paris of the Antilles until the morning of 8 May 1902, when Montagne Pelée sent a pyroclastic flow down onto it and killed some thirty thousand people in minutes. One prisoner in a stone cell survived. The town rebuilt small and the ruins were left standing among it, so the theatre steps, the cell and the roofless church stand between ordinary houses. The volcano museum holds melted glass and clocks stopped a little after eight. Wrecks of the ships that burned in the roadstead are dived.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 3 days (optimal 2 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: December – April
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Ruins of the Théâtre de Saint-Pierre
- Musée Frank Perret volcano museum
- Cachot de Cyparis, the survivor's cell
- Diving the wrecks in the roadstead
- Ruined church of Le Fort quarter
- Distillerie Depaz below the volcano
- Black sand beach along the seafront
- Anse Turin and the Gauguin coast
- Old quay and the warehouse arches
- Habitation Anse Latouche botanical ruins