Basse-Terre
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. 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 44,864 inhabitants in 2012 (11,534 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: 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. 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. 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 the town 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. Administration. List of Successive Mayors 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. 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: Demography. In 2017 the commune had 10,058 inhabitants. The total number of households in the commune in 2017 was 4,732. Since 2007 the population has been in decline. Education. The commune has 24 educational institutions: Former high schools?: 3 private primary schools: Private secondary schools under contract: 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. The commune also has a Health Centre. Town planning. Urban morphology. Over the centuries the commune spread along a street formerly named Grand Rue. The River of Herbs separates two early nuclei of houses which now correspond to the districts of Carmel and Saint Francis. The town developed on a narrow coastal strip between the Caribbean Sea and the first hills of the long  mountain ridge that divides the island in two. The volcanic massif of the Soufrière is to the north-east and the mountains of "Caraïbes" and "Houëlmont" are to the south-east, which enclose the commune in lush greenery. The city itself stretches over 3 km in spite of a rugged terrain intersected by ravines. Communal territory. The boundaries of the commune have varied over the centuries. The colonial Decree of 20 September 1837 endorsed the creation of communes (endorsed on 12 November 1789) and set the powers of the mayor and city council. The territory of Basse-Terre was previously  split into two: "intra-muros" which was the urban part and its inner periphery and "extra-muros" that extended to the slopes of the Soufrière (although this terminology is used, the city has never been surrounded by walls). In 1837 two new communes were created by cutting "extra-muros" from Basse-Terre and the future Saint-Claude and Gourbeyre were created. A decision of the municipal council of 15 March 1839 specified the limits of the commune. By 16 October 1953, the commune has grown and included the neighbourhoods of Rivière-des-Peres by the sea as well as Pintade , Thillac, Morne-à-Vaches, Desmarais, Guillard, and Delille. Housing. The total number of dwellings in the commune is 6,143 (2017). 77.0% are primary residences. The number of second homes is 80.8% and the number of vacancies is 22.2% which is above the national average of 8%. Economy. There has been development of the economic sector through improving the reception of cruise ships and passengers in the port of Basse-Terre. The first stone for the ferry terminal was laid on 27 December 2013. The modern terminal has a capacity of 100 people with areas for ticketing and restaurants was opened  on 2 October 2015. Employment. The unemployment rate in 2017 for the town was 40.7% out of a total workforce of 4,286 individuals. Division of employees into type of activity (2017) Culture and heritage. The commune has a very large number of buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments. Some of the most interesting are shown below. Sport. Sports facilities in the commune: They are used by sports clubs: Media. The TV channel Guadeloupe I and radio Guadeloupe I are available in the commune.