History

Ajoupa Bouillon is a town in northern Martinique located in a mountainous region between Basse-Pointe to its north, Saint-Pierre to the west, Morne-Rouge to the south and Lorrain to the east. It has no "borders" with the Atlantic Ocean.

This small town of 1,815 inhabitants (2018) owes its name to Jean Gobert, Sieur de Bouillon, originally from Languedoc and who had previously settled in the region of Marigot where he died in 1680. He would have built an ajoupa (shelter for fortune of the Caribbean), a refuge very popular with travelers on the side of the road linking Morne-Rouge to Grande-Anse. This refuge would become a point of reference for all those coming to the neighborhood. Built on the slopes of Montagne-Pelée, it would later become Ajoupa Bouillon.

Initially, Ajoupa-Bouillon was only a simple district which constituted a passageway between the North Atlantic and the North Caribbean. In 1837, under the July Monarchy, Ajoupa Bouillon was granted municipal status during the establishment of the colonial organization.

It is then considered as a hamlet attached to the municipality of the North, made up of Macouba and Basse-Pointe. In 1848 with the abolition of slavery, it forms a parish of about 1,000 souls and has a church.

It was not until January 11, 1889 that it became a municipality by obtaining its municipal independence.

In August 1902, Ajoupa-Bouillon is severely affected by the eruption of Mount Pelée and the town must be evacuated until 1906. This event will mark a halt to the development of the town which has never again found its population at the end of the 19th century.

Today, Ajoupa-Bouillon is counting on the new attraction for green regions to gain in population.

Economy

Ajoupa-Bouillon is an essentially agricultural commune with plantations of bananas, pineapples, food crops and livestock.

Each year, a gathering called “Convergences” celebrates the natural qualities of this town in the north and in the interior of the island.

With its eight rivers that water its land, it enjoys a profusion of crayfish, the so-called "z'habitants" which have become the culinary specialty of the town and can be tasted in the restaurants there.

It also attracts tourists wishing to be immersed in nature and the green environment of the island.

We must also add the presence of a few shops (grocery stores, butchers, snacks, pizzerias, bakeries, pastry shops, restaurants), a few small businesses (construction and transport), a nursing office, a medical office (doctor and nurse) and tourist accommodation (rural cottages).

Neighborhoods

The municipality's main districts are Rosalie, Sancé, Résidence Maxime, Derrière Cimetière, Route Joachim Omère, Bourg, Ravine des Saints, Mille pas, Dufailly, Résidence la Fortune, Cité Grenade, Cité les Grenadines, Lotissement Deschamps, Lotissement la Falaise, Deschamps, Mondzi, Grande-Savane, Vieux Cacao, Adinet, Croix Laurence, Eden, Morne Coco, La scierie, Semaine, la Racine, Abandonné, Rue Ilmany and Marie-Louise.

List of places to visit in the municipaly

Places to visit

Opened in 1990 on the lands of the old distillery Viviès, the "Ombrages" is a superb course amidst bamboo, cheese and other tropical floras.

Rivers

The Gorges de la falaise are a walk along a river built between two huge cliffs.

Located near the site of Gorges de la Falaise the Saut Babin is a real natural paradise. It is a river and blue pools of water clarity and transparency non-standard overhung by a waterfall.