Guide to Martinique
Must See Martinique
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Once the 'Little Paris of the West Indies' and the capital of Martinique, Saint-Pierre soldiers on in the shadow of its cosmopolitan past and the nearby volcano that destroyed it nearly a century ago. Despite this disaster, Martinicans began rebuilding the city soon after the eruption.
Much of Saint-Pierre, with its wrought-iron balconies and shuttered doors, still has a fin-de-siècle flavour. The Musée Vulcanologique displays intriguing artefacts of the 1902 eruption such as a blob of molten nails. If that isn't enough, visit the ruins of the old theatre.
Anse Turin, a long gray-sand beach just south of Saint-Pierre, is the home of the Musée Paul Gauguin, shrine to one of the great post-impressionist painters. Browse memorabilia, letters and reproductions of Gauguin's paintings, including Bord de Mer I and L'Anse Turin - avec les raisiniers, which were painted on the nearby beach during Gauguin's five-month stay on Martinique in 1887.