Archaeology handicrafts and science and technology sites to visit Three-Îlets

Shortly after the cane house, on the road leading to the town of Trois-Ilets, the Vatable forest is a nice place for a shady and family walk to change from the beach and discover the mangrove. Along the path (which makes a loop of one hour), you will come across a wooden pontoon for those who would like to try to swim in the mangrove, picnic tables, an amphitheater decorated with enameled lava, and especially magnificent views of the mangrove and the bay of Fort-de-France. Departure for kayak rides as well.

Settled in the renovated buildings of the old Vatable distillery in Trois-Ilets, the Maison de la Canne offers a broad panorama of the multiple and complex relationships that have been established between: land, plant, people. The site recounts the main events of the history of sugar cane, (Saccharum officinarum, a plant of the grass family), from the steam engine, from the mill to the slave ship, until the cutting of the cane around 1900. Through documents, models, and engravings of the period, more than three centuries of sugar economy from the late 17^th to the 20^th century in Martinique are told. This is an opportunity to revisit this large reed originating from Asia, which very early on interested farmers for its ability to store sucrose in its stems through the process of photosynthesis. Once harvested and then crushed in large mills, the cane yields a liquid, the vesou, which is transformed into sugar after crystallization, or into rum after distillation. From the planting of the cane to the manufacture of rum, through the extraction of sugar, all stages are faithfully described. The history of sugar cane is also directly linked to the history of colonization and slavery: particularly demanding in terms of labor, the cultivation of sugar cane in the colonies led to the massive deportation of people from Africa to cover the needs of the farms. Do not leave without having read the Code Noir.

Dare to take the red brick road, and you will land in another era, that of a village where dozens of men and women work. The Village de la Poterie is an authentic village, that was once inhabited, a unique place which gathers in the same site 45 different workshops and trades: a brick factory and craftsmen potters dating from the 18^thcentury, craftsmen and designers (furniture, fashion, decoration, soaps…), artists (jewelers, painters), souvenir stores and local products (chocolates) and some restaurants.