The best museums West

Nestled in the district of Piton Saint-Leu, the museum tells, with a lot of originality, the history of the island. A history marked by the work of slaves and those engaged in the transformation of cane into sugar, and today by the fate of the workers who lived at the pace of this factory, closed in the 1970s. The content is truly interactive and at the cutting edge of technology with amusing and very successful holograms that explain, for example, the process of sugar crystallization. Allow at least half a day for a visit.

Located in the commune of Saint-Paul, Réunion's first "site-museum", built on a vast colonial estate, evokes the prosperity of a Creole family who left their mark on the island's history in the ^17th and ^19th centuries, during the era of slavery. This illustrious family, who built a sugar factory on their estate in Villèle in 1827, contributed to the island's economic development under the leadership of^Mme Desbassayns (1755-1846), an emblematic and highly controversial figure in Reunionese history. Her death marked the end of the estate's prosperity, which passed to the heirs, the fruit of an alliance with a noble family from Toulouse, the Villèle family. The guided tour takes in the master's house (where temporary educational, historical and artistic exhibitions take place), the master's kitchen outside the main building, the slave hospital (where a memorial was inaugurated in 1996) and the remains of the sugar factory. Finally, you can discover the small Pointed Chapel, built on a small hill between 1841 and 1843, a place of worship and the scene of the evangelization of the estate's slaves. The Musée de Villèle also boasts a number of collections, including period furniture, model ships, silverware, prints and lithographs... A fascinating visit that leaves no visitor indifferent. Educational tours are also organized.

Here is a small museum dedicated to the history of salt in Reunion Island. Perched on the magnificent site of the Pointe au Sel (which alone is worth the detour), this establishment offers an educational stroll through amusing questions and answers: why does the salary come from the word "salt"? Why is sea water salty? A twenty-minute film will be shown to you on your arrival and will retrace the interesting history of these places. We advise you to call beforehand to check the opening of the museum.