Habitation Chalvet

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. The remains of several buildings testify to the existence of a strong industrial activity (fireplace, sugar factory, purgerie) on the field.

This authentic site has become a place of amusement, a "baterie à Barbette" was established around 1711 to protect the jetty and warehouses. After cultivating yams, and because of the greenhouse horticulture, farming today focuses around the banana (majority), pineapple and sugar cane. Besides banana, the Habitation is also the site of a Creole garden. You can also see plantations of medicinal plants.

Foremost, Habitation Chalvet reminds people that it was the theater of events of February 1974. In February 1974, the workers in the fields went on strike to demand the owners, "Békés," (the wealthy descendants of the old settlers who have long held agricultural land in Martinique and are now owners of shops) an increase in the working day of five francs. They refused. The days pass and employers sticking to his guns. Tone hardens against the lack of negotiations.

The "Békés" appealed to the police and then to the gunners. Gunners fired on strikers and two workers Rénor Ilmany (55) and Georges Marie-Louise (19 years) felt under the bullets. Many workers were hurt. This event remains in the memory Martinique. It has been the subject of a song by the artist Kolo Barst called "Févriyé 74". Each year, the Office of Tourism offers a memorial on the site.

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