The most beautiful religious buildings South Caribbean

It is one of the most beautiful and oldest in Martinique. Built at the end of the 18^th century, with its bell tower standing in the center of the village, the structure dedicated to Saint Étienne, patron saint of the town, follows the Jesuit aesthetic codes and shows two orders of superimposed Tuscan columns. The vault in the shape of an inverted ship's hull reminds us that the building was built by sailor carpenters. The remarkable high altar would have been originally intended for the cathedral of Lima, Peru. The shipwreck of the vessel carrying it stopped its journey in Le Marin.

This beautiful baroque building, inaugurated in 1829 and classified as a historical monument, is particularly striking because of its location: immaculately white, the church faces the sea and Le Diamant with its breaking waves that slap against the beach. The church has been renovated many times and destroyed by natural disasters, but it has a splendid frame, rebuilt in 1983 by the Compagnons de France, in the manner of an overturned ship's hull. Made in France, it was dismantled and reassembled on the church in 1983.

It gives unity to the village, and extends its steeple beyond its forecourt, to a charming pontoon plunging into the water. Every year, on September 19, 5,000 pilgrims come to La Salette to make the pilgrimage. On February 13, 1870, a cross was raised to the top of the hill behind the church. On Good Friday of the same year, a Christ was placed there. It was then that the idea of a calvary was born. The chapel has been damaged by cyclones and fires. It was restored in 1994 by the municipality.