Île aux Marins

Île aux Marins, a small islet just across the water from the town of Saint-Pierre, is one of the archipelago's most charming and evocative places, a beautifully preserved former fishing community now uninhabited but frozen in time. Once home to a thriving village of cod fishermen and their families, it was gradually abandoned in the twentieth century, but its colourful wooden houses, its church, schoolhouse and the traces of its hardy island life have been lovingly maintained. Today visitors reach it by a short boat trip and wander its grassy lanes among the old buildings, visiting a small museum that tells the story of this vanished way of life. Peaceful, poignant and picturesque, it is a lovely window on the archipelago's maritime past.

History

Settled in 1604 and called Île-aux-Chiens until 1931, the island once had nearly 700 people and was a commune until 1945, when it joined Saint-Pierre. The last residents left in the 1960s, but the church of Notre-Dame-des-Marins, the Jézéquel house and fishermen's homes still stand, with the Archipélitude Museum in the old school, and the bow of the Transpacific, which ran aground in 1971, lies on the north side (Wikipedia, Île-aux-Marins).

What to look for

• The colourful houses - the preserved old fishermen's homes.
• The church - the historic island church.
• The museum - the story of the vanished fishing community.
• The grassy lanes - the peaceful, time-frozen village.

When to go

June to September, the northern summer, is the season to visit, when boat trips run, the weather is mildest and the island's grassy lanes are green and inviting; the islet is quiet and largely inaccessible in the cold, foggy off-season. Summer offers the most reliable crossings.

Things to know

Île aux Marins is a small, quiet islet reached by a short boat trip, mainly accessible in summer, and its appeal is gentle atmosphere and heritage rather than grand sights or activities. As a beautifully preserved and poignant former fishing village frozen in time just off Saint-Pierre, though, the island is a genuinely charming and evocative place to explore.

Nearby

The town of Saint-Pierre lies just across the water.

Key facts