La Savane des Esclaves is an exceptional place that immerses visitors in the Martinique of bygone days. A part of the island’s historical heritage is thus preserved, taught, and brought to life.
La Savane des Esclaves is a reproduction of ancestral Caribbean heritage.
La Savane des Esclaves tells, to those willing to listen, the secrets of a culture of yesterday and today. The site, built and fully developed by hand by Gilbert Larose and his relatives, without aid or subsidies, is a reproduction intended to be as faithful as possible to the “Antan lontan” village that once sheltered our ancestors.
Thanks to the knowledge passed down by his grandparents, Gilbert has maintained this unusual place since 2000 in the manner of the elders. A historical retrospective, spread over 2 hectares at the edge of the forest, the village presents a historico-cultural retrospective filled with surprises and emotions. It thus offers a journey of discovery to the curious, to lovers of culture, and to locals alike, with a guided and commented tour of traditional 1800s-style huts and construction techniques that illustrate a way of life and ancestral know-how. Built directly on packed earth, dwellings were traditionally erected using wooden palisades of ti-baume, with roofs made from cane leaves. Scenes of daily life help in understanding the conditions of the time and allow one to imagine, to a limited extent, the harsh reality of slavery.
The museum: memory of the ancestors, recalling their histories to the descendants of african slaves.
The museum, “Memory of Our Ancestors,” illustrates the history of slavery in Martinique through paintings and sculptures of striking realism. Slavery and the Code Noir, maroon communities, up to abolition, are represented there.
Practical advice, medicinal recipes & healthy cuisine
Discovering an ancestral way of life, La Savane des Esclaves also offers the opportunity to become familiar with medicinal plants and their secrets of use, with a dedicated garden—once indispensable to Martiniquans living in the countryside, as it was the only possible access to care.
The visit would not be complete without discovering the “cassava hut” or manioc workshop and the making of cassava bread, which can be tasted, as well as a demonstration of cocoa stick production. Not to mention the Creole garden, cultivated in a traditional manner (without fertilizers or chemical products), which provided a certain food self-sufficiency with fruits and various “local vegetables” depending on the seasons: yam, dachine, sweet potato, cassava, corn, pineapple, guava, bananas. An art that, unfortunately, tends to be lost nowadays.
The site is a member of the Accueil paysan de Martinique association, the AFMA (French Association of Agricultural Museums), and the “Parks and Gardens of France” group.
La Savane des Esclaves makes it possible to discover Martinique differently than through its white-sand beaches, coral reefs, or lush forests, but rather by traversing its history, its traditions, and its heritage in a majestic setting. On the border of a place of worship, nevertheless, a place of worship to be discovered.
