Hell-Bourg

Hell-Bourg grew in the nineteenth century around thermal springs in the middle of the Cirque de Salazie, and although a landslide blocked the spring in 1948 and ended the spa trade, the village kept its creole architecture: wooden houses with lambrequins, the fretwork valances that edge the roofs, painted in strong colours and set in gardens. It is listed among the most beautiful villages in France, the only one on the island.

History

The village, first called Bémaho, grew up as a spa after Europeans found a hot spring here in 1830, though slaves and local people already knew it; its iron-bearing water came out at 32°C and was recommended for children and the anaemic. In 1920 the water temperature dropped and the spa declined, and in 1948 a cyclone-related landslide blocked the spring for good (Wikipedia, Hell-Bourg).

What you'll find

• The creole houses - wooden villas with carved lambrequins and painted facades.
• Maison Folio - a nineteenth-century house and garden open to visitors.
• The old thermal baths - the ruins of the spa, whose spring a landslide blocked in 1948.
• The cirque walls - the remparts rising around the village on all sides.

When to go

May to November is the drier season. Mornings are clearest before the cloud fills the cirque. Weekends bring visitors from the coast.

What to expect

Cloud and rain close in most afternoons and the village is often in mist. Parking in the village is very limited. It is small and a few hours covers it.

Nearby

Voile de la Mariee is on the road in, and Trou de Fer is above.

Key facts