Basse-Terre (, ; ; ) is a commune in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is also the prefecture (capital city) of Guadeloupe.Commune de Basse-Terre (97105), INSEE The city of Basse-Terre is located on Basse-Terre Island, the western half of Guadeloupe.
Although it is the administrative capital, Basse-Terre is only the second-largest city in Guadeloupe, behind Pointe-à-Pitre. Together with its urban area, it had 48,467 inhabitants in 2022, 9,419 of whom lived in the city of Basse-Terre proper.
Geography
Basse-Terre is located in the south-western corner of the Basse-Terre portion of the island of Guadeloupe which is itself located some 100 km north of Dominica and some 450 km south-east of Puerto Rico. The commune is at the foot of the Soufrière volcano and is connected to the rest of the island by three main roads:
The which exits the commune in the south on the coast and continues inland to Gourbeyre then all the way around the coast to Pointe-à-Pitre on Grande-Terre. The which goes north along the coast to Vieux Habitants and continues all the way around the coast to join the N1 at Baie Mahault. The N3 which traverses the length of the commune and continues to Saint-Claude inland.
Basse-Terre has a maritime station that receives cruise ships and has a ferry service to the Îles des Saintes.
The commune is mostly urban with some farmland in the north-east and north-west.
The different districts of Basse-Terre are: Agincourt (also Saint-Claude), Bas-du-Bourg, Carmel, Desmarais (also Saint-Claude) Guillaud, Morne-Chaulet, Morne-à-Vaches (also Saint-Claude), Petit-Paris, Pintade, Rivière-des-Peres, La Rue-Maillan, Saint-François, Sur-le Morne, and Versailles.
Climate Basse-Terre lies at a transitional point between a tropical rainforest climate and a tropical monsoon climate. As is the norm with cities with these two climate types, Basse-Terre features relatively consistent temperatures throughout the year.
Toponymy
History
Native American origins Before Basse-Terre became a French town it was a village of American Indian horticulturists and potters. The village was on the site of the present Basse-Terre Cathedral where archaeological excavations found human remains and other evidence of occupation during the restoration of the cathedral.
In 2005 on the lower part of a Native American garbage dump, excavations have uncovered a new dump containing large amounts of archaeological material: food waste, ceramics, stone tools and shell tools, ornaments, charcoal and a tomb.Report of Activity 2006, Inrap, page 87
Birth of the town of Basse-Terre (1635–1649) In 1635, when it was part of Saint Kitts and Nevis, an expedition was seeking a place of lasting presence in Guadeloupe. The operation was entrusted to Charles Liénard de l'Olive and Jean du Plessis d'Ossonville together with 4 missionaries and 550 colonists. The landing took place on 28 June 1635, at Pointe Allègre, far from Basse-Terre. Famine pushed the party to the south near the present town of Vieux-Fort in early 1636. The relationship between Native Americans and colonists degraded quickly; Liénard then began a bloody war against the locals. In 1660 a treaty forced him to retreat to Dominica and Saint Vincent. The war forced him to build a fort, today Fort Olive at Vieux Fort. In 1640 Jean Aubert succeeded Liénard as the government of the island and he soon left the site to settle on the left bank of the , which is the current Gourbeyre marina. In 1643 Charles Houël du Petit Pré replaced Aubert and, in 1649, he left the marina site for the right bank of the Galion and built a fort. Some religious built the first church, now the , shortly afterwards and the city was organized around the chapel and from the fort to the river of Herbs. This was the beginning of Basse-Terre.
Birth of the town of Saint-François (circa 1680) Around 1680 on the right bank of the (River of Herbs) the Capuchins built a chapel dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi where the present Guadeloupe Cathedral is located and a second centre of population grew around this place of worship. The River of Herbs separated the two distinct villages: Basse-Terre and Saint Francis. In reality, people flocked to the new town because of raids by English privateers who burned the town of Basse-Terre in 1691 and again in 1703. Following these raids the people thought that the fort was attracting foreign privateers and consequently moved to Saint Francis. A stone bridge was built in 1739 replacing a ford and a wooden bridge across the river of Herbs.
British occupation (1759–1763) and tentative revival (1763–1789) On 23 January 1759, a British expeditionary force captured the island. Guadeloupe was occupied by the British until 10 February 1763, when it was returned to France in the Treaty of Paris. Basse-Terre experienced a resurgence of activity despite the founding of Pointe-à-Pitre in 1764 – a town in a better position to receive the ocean swell – and despite a fire in September 1782. The town was partially redesigned around 1787.
Revolutionary period (1789–1802) The French Revolution reached the island and therefore Basse-Terre in September 1789. In 1793, counter-revolutionary planters agreed to cede the island to the British. They captured Guadeloupe, then governed by Victor Collot, on 22 April 1794 and appointed Thomas Dundas as the new governor. As early as May 1794, Victor Hugues, sent by the National Convention in Paris, managed to recapture the colony and abolish slavery. The French dislodged the cannon in December 1794 and installed a guillotine. The city was the scene of military operations conducted by General Richepanse, who was sent by Napoleon to reestablish slavery, against Louis Delgrès in 1802. Delgrès retreated to the fort on 20 May 1802 and abandoned it on 22 May.
Difficult renewal (1802–1870) The town was occupied from 6 February 1810 to 30 May 1814 and again from 10 August 1815 to July 1816. For over 20 years Basse-Terre suffered from the effects of these disturbances. Only after four hurricanes (in 1816, 1821, 1825, and 1844) did Basse-Terre think of rehabilitating the construction and development of the Champ d'Arbaud by building a Military Hospital (now Gerville-Réache High School), a bishopric, sanitation, and expansion of the city by creating new neighbourhoods such as Trianon, Versailles, Petite Guinée, and Petit-Paris but the situation remained unchanged, worsened more by a cholera epidemic in 1865.
Renewed activity (1870–1976) From 1870 the commune began to recover and inaugurated its town hall in 1899. It was the first city in Guadeloupe to be electrified in 1913. The impetus came from Ali Tur, who arrived after the cyclone of September 1928 and built the courthouse, the General Council, and a market in the 1930s. A port was built (as wooden quays had previously served as a port) from 1961 to 1964, the boulevard was built in 1962 to serve the port: it was extended in 1964 and again in 1965 along what was once a pebble and black sand beach that ran along the coast. On 26 November 1970, 1.5 inches of rain (38.1 mm) fell in a minute, the heaviest ever recorded. Cyclonic conditions repeatedly ravaged the development of this boulevard in 1989 with Hurricane Hugo and Hurricane Marilyn in 1995, Hurricane Lenny in 1999, and Hurricane Omar in 2008.
Since 1976 In 1976 73,600 inhabitants of Guadeloupe were evacuated (from 15 August to 18 November 1976) due to the high activity of the Soufrière volcano. Some evacuees never returned and moved to Jarry. For 20 years, the town centre was depopulated in favour of peri-urban areas or neighbouring towns such Baillif, Saint-Claude, and Gourbeyre despite attempts at renewal.
Heraldry
Administration List of Successive MayorsList of Mayors of France
From To Name 1790 1792 Jean Baptiste Louis Thirus de Pautrizel 1792 La Graët 1821 1829 Baudet 1831 1837 DuperronN 1837 1843 Jean Rémi Terrail 1843 1846 Charles Le Dentu 1847 1848 Aristide Lignières 1848 1848 J. L. Rousseau 1848 1848 Lomont Bernard 1848 1850 P. H. Laurichesse 1850 1850 Pothonier 1850 1852 P. H. Laurichesse 1853 1854 Puech 1854 1863 Rullier 1863 1869 A. Eggimann 1869 1871 Aristide Lignères 1871 1876 Emile Le Dentu 1876 1883 Richard Jean-Romain 1883 1884 Hildebert Bernus 1884 1888 Auguste Silvie 1888 1893 Hildebert Bernus 1893 1894 J. Cascon 1897 1902 Wilfrid Montout 1897 1900 Delmance Demonchy 1911 1925 Arnaud Lignières 1925 1933 Georges Favreau 1933 1938 Maurice Marie-Claire 1938 1944 Maurice Martin
Mayors from 1945 From To Name Party Position 1945 1951 Joseph Pitat Doctor, President of the General Council 1945–1949 1951 1953 Annibal Waneybergue Retired 1953 1959 Élie Chauffrein PCF 1959 1971 Gaston Feuillard Lawyer, MP 1958–1973 1971 1995 Jérôme Cléry PCG Doctor 1995 2001 Lucette Michaux-Chevry RPR Lawyer, President of the Regional Council 1992–2004, Senator 1995–2011 2001 2001 Pierre Martin DVD 2001 2008 Guy Georges DVD Merchant 2008 2014 Lucette Michaux-Chevry UMP Lawyer, former Minister, Senator 2014 2020 Marie-Luce Penchard UMP Territorial Administrator, former Minister 2020 2026 André Atallah
Judicial and administrative bodies The commune of Basse-Terre has a Courthouse, which was built in 1934 by architect Ali Georges-Tur, and which also houses the Basse-Terre Court of Appeal, a Tribunal d'instance, a High Court an Administrative Court, and an industrial tribunal.List of competent jurisdictions for Basse-Terre, Ministry of Justice website . The Bar Association of the Bar of Guadeloupe is also established in the commune. Basse-Terre benefits from the presence of a Chamber of bailiffs, a Chamber of Notaries, and a Chamber of Commerce. The prefecture is also present and the city is the seat of the Urban community of South Basse-Terre. There is a police station and a prison.
Twinning
Basse-Terre has twinning associations with:National Commission for Decentralised cooperation Pondicherry (India) since 1981
Demography The total number of households in the commune in 2017 was 4,732.Dossier complet: Commune de Basse-Terre (97105), INSEE Since 2007 the population has been in decline.
Education The commune has 24 educational institutions:Schools in Basse-Terre
5 public kindergartens: Chevalier St-Georges, Circonvallation, Laure Abel, Petit Paris and Rivière des Pérès"LISTE DES ECOLES PUBLIQUES ET PRIVEES SOUS CONTRAT." . Retrieved on 10 March 2018. 5 public primary schools: Elie Chaufrein, Gaston Michineau, Mélanie Milly, Regina Richard, and Rivière des Pérès 3 public junior high schools: Joseph Pitat, Les Persévérants, and Pensionnat de Versailles"Établissements du 2nd degré PUBLIC 2017–2018 ." . Retrieved on 10 March 2018. 2 public senior high schools: Lycée et lycée professionnel les Persévérants Lycée polyvalent Raoul Georges Nicolo
Former high schools?: Lycée général et technologique Gerville Réache Lycée général et technologique Pensionnat de Versailles
3 private primary schools: Immaculée Versailles Jeanne-D Arc Saint Paul de Bouillon
Private secondary schools under contract:" Etablissements du 2nd degré privé sous contrat 2017–2018 .". Retrieved on 10 March 2018. Collège Les Persévérants/LP/LGT Les Persévérants LGT/LP/LT Versailles
Health Medical institutions in Basse-Terre are among the largest on the island. In 2012 the hospital in Basse-Terre had 235 beds organized into four areas (emergency, surgery, enlarged internal medicine, obstetrics and pediatrics) and had a staff of 850 doctors, hospital and administrative staff.Presentation of the Hospital Centre of Basse-Terre on its official website The commune also has a Health Centre.
Town planning
Urban morphology