Monuments to visit Cayenne

The town's first market was called "l'Avancée". It was located at Grande-Savane (now Place des Palmistes), close to a post of soldiers known as the "advanced post". At the time, the inhabitants of the savannah were outside the town limits and, on their way to the market, were in fact on their way to the outpost.

At the same time, in the early ^18th century, plans for the city of Cayenne named the site of today's market "Place du Port", but it wasn't until 1842 that it was actually renamed Place du Marché. In 1888, a covered market was built here, flanked by public gardens. in 1907, the gardens were removed and new market halls were built, this time with a metal frame. The inauguration took place in 1910, making today's market an institution more than a century old!

Three times a week, the Cayenne market is a must for all producers. The stalls are filled with all the flavours, scents and colors of the country, and of the sub-region: Suriname, Brazil, Haiti... and Laos, thanks to the agricultural crops grown by the Hmongs of French Guiana. It's an opportunity to discover most of the local products: yams, bananas, sorossi, maripa, parépou, wassai and smoked chicken, black pudding, mango or soursop juice, as well as Chinese shrimp or chicken soup, or Brazilian specialties. A covered and open market, a must-see.

This fish market, located in Cayenne's old port, includes a wholesale area and a retail area with twelve well-equipped booths. A wide choice of all Guiana's fish from sea and river: snapper, atipas, acoupas, machoirans, not forgetting the famous shrimps. This is an opportunity to discover previously unknown species. There's also an ice-making plant. Don't forget to try the shrimp puddings, sold near the main entrance... divine!

In 1643, Frenchman Poncet de Brétigny bought the rock overlooking the island of Cayenne from the Galibi Indians and named it Cépérou Hill, after a Galibi Indian chief. The man fortified the rock and built a village, which later became the colony's main town. Then the Frenchman was killed by the Indians, and the name Cépérou fell into oblivion. The fort, however, continued to be a unifying element in the lives of the Cayennais, with its resounding siren punctuating the hours and howling for ten days when the town burned down in 1888.

A descendant of slaves, Guyanese politician and humanist, Félix Eboué had been colonial governor of Chad since July 1938 when he joined the Free French following General de Gaulle's Appeal of June 18, 1940. He was soon followed by the other countries of French Equatorial Africa, illustrating his patriotism as a hero of the Liberation. He was the "first resistance fighter from overseas France", but also the first black man to achieve such a high rank when he was appointed governor of Guadeloupe in 1936.

In 1883, Félix Eboué's father acquired a plot of land at 37 rue Richelieu. He had a single-storey colonial house built on the corner of the street, which today bears his son's name. As in most Creole houses of the period, the kitchen was located outside, in the courtyard. Acquired by the General Council of French Guiana in 1989, Félix Eboué's birthplace has since been transformed into a museum. It presents the history of the resistance fighter and his political career, from his posting to Oubangui-Chari to his governorship of Chad, via his years of interim governance in Guadeloupe. Explanatory panels and period artefacts provide an insight into the life of "this great African Frenchman" - as General de Gaulle described him on his death - the first black man to be buried in the Pantheon on May 20, 1949, at the same time as Victor Schoelcher, author of the decree abolishing slavery.

Prefecture of French Guiana since 1947, this U-shaped establishment was originally a Jesuit convent whose mission was to serve parishes, catechize slaves and, above all, convert Amerindians. Built between 1749 and 1752, the French ban on Jesuits in the colonies from 1762 forced them to abandon the site. Under the mandate of Victor Hugues, the building became the Hôtel des Gouverneurs and later housed the prefecture.

Installed in the center of Place Léopold-Héder, the fountain dates back to the first water supply from the Rorota mountains in Rémire. The work was carried out by convicts at the end of the ^19th century. Built in 1867, the fountain was dedicated to Governor Tardy de Montravel, who had succeeded in solving the town's water supply problem: as soon as he was appointed Governor of French Guiana on February 16, 1959, he set about improving the health of the entire Bagne territory.