France, Martinique (French West Indies), St Pierre, the ruins of the theater

Getty Images/Hemis.fr RM

Theater Ruins

Martinique


St-Pierre’s most impressive ruins are those of the town's 18th-century theater. While most of it was destroyed in the 1902 eruption of Mont Pelée, enough remains to give a sense of the building's former grandeur. It once seated 800 and hosted theater troupes from mainland France. On the ruins' northeastern side you can peer down into the tiny, thick-walled jail cell that housed Louis-Auguste Cyparis, one of the town’s three survivors.

Look out for the 1917 sculptural work that Madeleine Jouvray – a pupil of Rodin's – created to depict the suffering of the town.

Another area rich in ruins is the Quartier du Figuier, also along Rue Bouillé.


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