| Cayenne | ||
 | ||
Coat of arms  | ||
| State | France | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | French Guiana | |
| Surface | 206.9 km² | |
| Inhabitants | 118.346 (2017 estimate) | |
| Name inhabitants | Cayennais, Cayennaise | |
| POSTAL CODE | 97300 | |
| Time zone | UTC − 03: 00 | |
Position
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| Institutional website | ||
Cayenne (Cayenne) is the capital of the French Guiana.
To know
When to go
The climate of Cayenne is humid equatorial: all months have an average temperature above 18 ° C. and the rainfall of the driest month is over 60 mm (September with 73.5 mm). The proximity of the city to the equatorial line confers good climatic stability. winds and temperatures are regular throughout the year.
Background
The first traces of human presence (fragments of ceramics and stone sculptures) date back to the sixth millennium BC. The current descendants of these indigenous peoples are the Swivels and Wayampis who speak the Tupi-Guarani languages. At the end of the third century, the Arawaks and Palikurs, probably from the Amazon, arrived on the coast and hunted the first inhabitants. They speak the languages of the Arawak language family. At the end of the eighth century, Caribbean people, the Kali'na (or Galibis) and the Wayanas in turn occupied the coasts of present-day Guyana.
On August 5, 1498, during his third voyage, Christopher Columbus sighted the coast of Guyana for the first time. When colonization began, the current site of the city was inhabited for a long time by the Amerindian people of Galibi. The first attempt at colonization is due to Gaspard de Sotelle who settled 120 Spanish families on the island of Cayenne between 1568 and 1573.
An expedition ordered by Henry IV and led by La Ravardière settled on the island of Cayenne in 1604. But it was destroyed a few years later by the Portuguese who intended to enforce the Treaty of Tordesillas.
The history of the city of Cayenne begins on November 27, 1643, with the company of Rouen led by Charles Poncet de Brétigny (lieutenant general of King Louis XIII). With 300 men, it docks in the bay of Armire (today Rémire-Montjoly). After two days of walking, he arrives on a small hill in the swampy coastal plain, where a tribe of Galibi Amerindians lives. He bought it from their boss, Cépérou and built Fort Cépérou there. But human relations with the Amerindians are bad and a revolt of the Amerindians breaks out, which will cause the extermination of the colony and the death of Charles Poncet de Brétigny.
On 29 September 1652, members of the Equinoctial French Company attempted to establish a colony, landing with 800 men on the tip of the Mahury. There they found the survivors of the Rouen expedition. It was during this period that the first black slaves were introduced to Guyana.
On May 5, 1676, 11 Dutch warships under the command of Admiral Binckes occupied Cayenne but six months later the city returned to the French. A period of prosperity followed. The Jesuits settled in Guyana creating plantations of cocoa, coffee, cotton and cassava. During the Napoleonic wars, Portuguese from Brazil occupied the city for a short time.
Following the abolition of slavery decree of April 27, 1848, the plantations closed and Guyana's economy collapsed. To remedy this, Napoleon III established the famous penitentiary. Between 1777 and 1821, the Laussat Canal was built with the forced labor of inmates. In 1821, the architect Sirdey designed the current urban plan with streets crossing at right angles. Cayenne became a modern colonial capital.
In 1855 a gold vein was discovered which ended with the Second World War. The prison was definitively closed in 1946 and Guyana obtained the administrative status of a French overseas department.
The creation in 1965 of the space center of Kourou gave impetus to the city which equipped itself with modern infrastructures: the port of Dégrad-Des-Cannes and the Félix-Éboué international airport were modernized.
How to orient yourself
How to get
By plane
- 1 Cayenne-Felix Éboué Airport (IATA: CAY).
How to get around
What see
- 1 Cathedral of the Holy Savior.
Events and parties
- Carnival.
What to do
Shopping
How to have fun
Where to eat
Where stay
Safety
How to keep in touch
Around
- Zoo de Guyane
