Choiseul

Choiseul on Saint Lucia's southwestern coast is the island's craft district, where basketry, pottery and woodcarving are made in techniques traced back to the Kalinago and earlier Amerindian populations, with a craft centre on the road selling work made in the surrounding villages. Clay pots are still fired in the open. The coast here is rocky with small beaches between headlands. The Kalinago population survived longer in this part of the island than elsewhere, which is generally given as the reason the techniques persisted here.

History

Choiseul, first called Anse Citron, became a parish in 1765, and a census of 1769 counted 69 estates there. An Anglican church was built at River Dorée in 1846 and the first school opened in 1848, and the Catholic church in the village, begun at the end of the 19th century by Father Pierre Prudent René, was finished by 1914 (Wikipedia, Choiseul, Saint Lucia).

What you'll find

• The basketry - the woven work in traditions traced to Amerindian practice.
• The open-fired pottery - clay pots made and fired in the villages.
• The craft centre - the outlet on the road selling the district's work.
• The rocky coast - small beaches between headlands along the shore.

When to go

December to April is the dry season. The craft centre keeps set hours. Pottery firing happens on no fixed schedule.

Before you go

The craft centre is the main formal outlet and seeing work being made depends on chance. Some stock is imported rather than local. The coast road is winding.

Nearby

Balenbouche is southeast, and Soufriere is north.

Key facts