Saint-Pierre (Martinique)

The then capital of Martinique was destroyed in three minutes in an eruption of the nearby volcano of Mount Pelée on May 8, 1902. Around 30,000 people perished. Today the town practically consists of two one-way streets, and little is reminiscent of the eruption.

• Office de Tourisme, Rue Victor-Hugo, ☏ +596 781541. M–Th 09:00–17:00, F Sa 09:00–13:00. 

The harbourfront has been restored. The vegetable market is right by the sea. Slaves used to be traded there. The former customs house with a fig tree in the middle (Anciens Entrepôts, Rue Bouillé) is only a few steps away.

Before you reach the river you can see the ruins of an Ursuline convent. At Rivière Roxelane there is a pillar bridge over the river.

There is a monument by Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc there. On the other side you can see the old stone bridge from 1766. If you go a little further, you will reach the columns and remains of the walls of the first church, which was built on the island in 1640.

On the second one-way street you pass the old prison and the remains of the theatre, which once provided space for 800 spectators. The museum is just a few meters further on the other side of the street.

• Volcano Museum (Musée Vulcanologique), Rue Victor Hugo, ☏ +596 781516. Daily 09:00–12:00, 15:00–17:00. It was founded in 1932 by the American volcanologist Frank Perret and named after him. Close-ups show the place before and after the disaster. In the showcases you can see clocks that stopped at the time of the volcanic eruption, musical instruments deformed by the heat and pieces of lava peeking out of bent nails. 
• The Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption from 1654 is in the southern district of Le Mouillage. The facade survived the volcanic eruption undamaged up to the cornices. Most of the collapsed nave was rebuilt using material from the former church from the 18th century.
• Battery of Sainte-Marthe.
• Bureau du Génie et des Ponts et Chaussées ou ancien asile, Rue Levassor. Ruins of buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries.
• Cachot de Siparis, Rue de la Prison. Former prison.
• Cimetière du Fort. Former cemetery.infoto edit
• Habitation perrinelle. Archaeological excavations.
• Asile Bethléem Hospice, Rue Abbé-Gosse at Rue de la Raffinerie. The ruins of the chapel with the tomb of the clergyman Gosse.
• Le Musée Historique de Saint-Pierre, Rue Victor Hugo. M–Sa 09:30–17:00. 
• Habitation Depaz, Plantation de la Montagne Pelée, ☏ +596 781314. M–F 10:00–17:00, Sa 09:00–16:00. 
• 🌍 Centre of Earth Sciences (Centre de découverte des sciences et de la terre), La Galere district, ☏ +596 588242. W–Su 09:00–17:00. The modern, almost free-floating building is located north of Saint-Pierre on the left bank of the river in the immediate vicinity of the ruins of the old settlement of Périnelle. There you will find a permanent exhibition on the eruption of Mount Pelée volcano. Films on the subject of volcanoes in the Caribbean are shown in the film center. There is a themed garden about volcanism with an impressive view of Mount Pelée. 

• Scuba dive at wrecks in the harbor. During the 1902 volcanic eruption, all but one of the ships in the harbour sunk, including large four-masters. 13 of them can be explored by divers in shallow water as coral-overgrown remains.

• Bureau de la Randonnee, Rue Victor-Hugo, Bourg, ☏ +596 783077. M–F 09:00–17:00. Canyonning and hiking. 
• Bulles Passion, Rue Bouillé, ☏ +596 782622. Diving (updated Aug 2021)
• TropicaSub, Anse Latouche, ☏ +596 783803. Diving and water skiing. (updated Aug 2021)

• Police, Sub-Prefecture. ☏ +596 782950
• La Poste (Post office), Rue Victor Hugo at Rue du Général de Gaulle. ☏ +596 781181.