Archaeological sites French Guiana

In the penitentiary organization, Devil's Island was a place of deportation, a treatment reserved for political prisoners who were sought to be isolated from the rest of the world. One of the first of these men was Charles Delescluze, a Paris Commune leader convicted of conspiracy in 1849. It was on this 14-hectare rock that Captain Dreyfus landed on April 13, 1895. For four long years, he occupied the island, alone with a few warders who scrupulously ensured his isolation. During his stay, nothing was spared for Dreyfus, who found himself in irons in his hut for several weeks at a time. In deep despair, he would spend hours silently gazing out over the ocean, sitting on a stone bench that can still be seen at the tip of the island, near the tip of the Caribbean.

Without the charisma and courage of his supporters, the most famous of whom was Zola, Dreyfus could have ended his days on Devil's Island, as some of his detractors wanted. After Dreyfus's departure in June 1899, other political prisoners were deported to the island, many of them anarchists. By this time, prison conditions had eased considerably, and these men served their sentences under a regime of semi-liberty without compulsory work. Listed as a historic monument, the Dreyfus house has benefited from a restoration program financed by the CNES.

Île Saint-Joseph was chosen as a site for solitary confinement: where strong heads were sent to serve their sentences. The "man-eater" and the "dry guillotine" were among the island's sinister nicknames. Today, tropical vegetation has invaded the stone ruins: roots and creepers intertwine between the bars of the abandoned dungeons. A walk that can be a little chilling, but not without a touch of the dreamlike.

From the landing stage, there are two paths: one circles the island, the other splits it in 2 at its summit, where you'll find the Reclusion camp. Once in the camp, you'll discover thedormitory, then the cells. The cells had openings only in the ceiling, enabling the guards to keep an eye on the prisoners from above. Convicts were subjected to hard labor for 10 hours a day, and were allowed one walk a day within the camp walls. They were not allowed to communicate with each other, hence the nickname "Island of Silence". There were also a number of totally dark cells, where the most difficult convicts were locked up in absolute darkness, sometimes for several years.

As you head for the shore, you'll come to the warden's family quarters, then the staff cemetery, overlooking a small beach of volcanic rock where a swim is in order. A path leads to the pontoon, where you'll find the janitor's quarters, now converted into a rest station for the French Foreign Legion.

Located in the Pariacabo industrial zone in Kourou, the Centre d'Archéologie Amérindienne de Kourou offers visitors the chance to discover pre-Columbian culture in French Guiana. This archaeological interpretation center is located in the immediate vicinity of the "Carapa Engraved Rocks" site, classified as a historic monument on November 18, 1993. More than 200 polissoirs and rock engravings are found on these rocks, known as the "Hippopotamus of the Savannah". Mysteries waiting to be discovered.