History

Basse-Pointe is a municipality in Martinique's North Atlantic region. It lies between Macouba to the west, Saint-Pierre to the southwest, Ajoupa-Bouillon to the southeast and Le Lorrain to the east.

Basse-Pointe owes its name to the geographical location of its town. It is overlooked by a low rocky point. Indeed it is the lowest part of its coast where a modest pier was once built. The first settlers cultivated tobacco there, then cocoa which subsequently disappeared in favor of sugar cane.

It is also in Basse-Pointe that many Indian immigrants have settled to work in the sugar cane fields. But how to evoke Basse-Pointe without saying that it is the birthplace of Aimé Césaire, the Cantor of Negritude.

The commune of Basse-Pointe witnessed a major historical event that led to several days of rioting on the island. In February 1974, banana farm workers demanding an increase in the price of a working day faced repression from the police leading to the death of two of them.

Today, the sugarcane has given way to the banana which occupies more than half of the agrarian surface.

Economy

Basse-Pointe is an essentially agricultural municipality. Banana and pineapple plantations predominate.

Neighborhoods

The municipality's main districts are Chalvet, du Potiche, Eyma, Hackaert, Hauteurs Bourdon, la Falaise, Magdelonnette, Moulin l'Étang and Pecoul.

List of the places to visit in the municipality

Places to visit

Formerly known as pier, Basse-Pointe port was the place of transit of products of sugar cane. We will visit the small sugar port built into a strengthening of the cliff and that still bears a plaque engraved with the date of its last replenishment.

In the 18th century, Habitation Chalvet or Habitation la Capot was a sugar plantation which the crisis of sugar forced to find a new direction. Previously, it was a farm where the cocoa was grown.

Habitation Pécoul is a large Creole-style house whose entrance is embellished by an avenue of palm trees.

Within a verdant tropical park and surrounded by century-old trees, Plantation Leyritz is an old habitation located in the North Atlantic which has preserved the remains of its period buildings.