no picture on Wikidata:  | ||
| Saint Martin | ||
| Country | France | |
|---|---|---|
| Search for a province ends with the state | ||
| Residents | 35.684 (2015) | |
| Tourist information Tel | 590 (0)590 875 721 (Marigot) | |
| no tourist info on Wikidata: | ||
| location | ||
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Saint Martin is a french Territorial authority, which by the end of 2007 to Guadeloupe belonged to, on the island of the same name Saint Martin.
Regions
The northern part of this island is called Saint Martin and belongs to the French overseas department Guadeloupe. The southern half of the island bears the name Sint Maarten and is part of the Netherlands Antilles. This is the only place where France and the Netherlands share a common border. But there are no border controls.
places
- Anse Marcel
- Baie Nettlè connects directly to Sandy Ground
- Baie Orientale - Orient Bay
- Cul-de-Sac
- Grand case
- Marigot is the seat of the administration
- Oyster Pond
- Terres basses
Other goals
- Quartier d'Orleans - French Quarter
The long, quiet fishing village of Quartier d’Orleans, also known as the “French Quarter”, is located on the east coast directly behind the border between the shallow lake Etang aux Poissons and the hills in the center of the island. It was the original French settlement on Saint Martin. Until 1768 this was the capital of the French half of the island, in 1775 there were 188 inhabitants in the place.
Some of the original 17th century structures are believed to still be preserved. However, the search for it is difficult. This part of the island is not yet intensely developed, so much of the earlier atmosphere has remained intact. There are only a handful of shops for everyday needs. At best, tourists cross the place by car. Geographically, one cannot speak of distances on the small island, but there are worlds between the tourist places and the French Quarter. However, it is the right place to get to know a local life away from the developed places. Life happens outside and in the restaurants and bars. If you want to participate, are tolerant and can overlook the fact that topics of conversation are sometimes repeated, you should just join them.
The 424 m high Pic Paradis prevents the rain on this side of the small mountain.
- Sandy Ground
This is a fishing village on the narrow strip of land between the Caribbean Sea on one side and the large lagoon on the other. The smaller district connects seamlessly to the south-west of Marigot. A canal for sailing yachts from the open sea to the large inland lake “Grand Etang de Simpson Bay” separates the northern part from the southern part of the town. A drawbridge is opened several times a day to allow the sailboats to sail through the short canal. At the southwest end of Sandy Ground is the tourist center Baie Nettlè with several hotel complexes.
- The island of Tintamarre
About 2 km off the northeast coast is the larger island of Tintamarre, which the English called Flat Island. The island was inhabited until the early 1950s. Lime juice was extracted there during the colonial period. The Dutchman Van Romondt owned a cotton plantation there. After World War II, Rémy de Haenen built an airfield there. His airline "Compagnie Aérienne Antillaise" (CAA) flew daily to all the surrounding islands with single-engine propeller planes and with a seaplane. After the severe cyclone of September 1, 1950, flight operations had to be stopped. Today you can still find house foundations, ruins and aircraft engines on the uninhabited island. The island is a popular day trip destination from the hotels on the northeast coast.
- Pic Paradis
At 424 m, the Pic Paradis is not only the highest point in Saint Martin, but also the only one that is developed and even accessible by car. However, this does not mean that use should be made of it, the narrow and steep road would not do it justice either. Despite the incomparable view of the island, it is not a tourist destination. These driveways have only been built for the radio towers on the peaks and the people who live there.
The plateau offers views of Orient Beach, French Quarter, Dutch Quarter, Oyster Pond and Philipsburg, as well as the neighboring island of SAINT BARTHS. On the opposite side, the Bay of Marigot can be observed in front of Simpson Bay and the Terres Basses, while in the background a view of the flat British neighboring island of ANGUILLA is possible.
background
Towards the end of the last ice age, the North American continent was still covered with a two to three kilometer thick layer of ice, the water level was 30 to 40 meters lower than today. At that time, the present-day islands of ANGUILLA, SAINT MARTIN and SAINT BARTELEMY formed a single island with a size of about 4,650 km². The water temperature at that time was 3 - 5 ° C, the air temperature 5 - 10 ° C lower than today.
The irregular triangular island has a north-south extension of 13 km and an east-west extension of 15 km. The island core is up to 424 m high. The coasts in the east and west are rather flat. There are around 30 fine sandy beaches along the entire coast. Behind many are large salt lakes with brackish water inland. The largest inland body of water in the southwest is the Simpson Bay Lagoon with a size of 31 km². The border to the Dutch part of the island runs right through it.
history
The indigenous people, Arawak and Karib Indians, knew the island by two different names. Some called her Sualouigawhich means something like "salt island", the others called it Oualichi or "land of women". Although there are no rivers on the island, the Indians found enough drinking water in various caves in the limestone underground.
On November 11, 1493 is said to Christoph Columbus discovered the island on his second voyage without going ashore and named it after this bishop St. Martin of Tours. Since the island seemed worthless to Spain according to Columbus's description, it remained almost untouched for another century. The Indians were able to celebrate their ritual festivals and pirates used them as shelter from an early age.
In 1624 the Dutchman laid Peter Schouten there to carry out repairs on his ship. He declared the island uninhabited and took possession of it for the Netherlands.
In 1629 the attempt by Pierre Belain d´Esnambuc to conquer the island of SAINT KITTS for the French King Louis XIII, since the English are already there under the leadership of Thomas Warner had established. D'Esnambuc sailed on to Saint Martin, where he was at French Quarter went ashore. A Spanish commando drove him out again, so that he had to sail back to SAINT KITTS.
The Dutch were also looking for a base in the Caribbean. Since the French and British were already fighting over SAINT KITTS, they sailed further north. Reached in early August 1631 Jan Claesen with 32 men the island of Saint Martin Little Baywhere he found large salt lakes. Salt was of the utmost importance for the Dutch fish processing, so one went ashore without realizing that some French had already settled on the northwest coast. The first huts were built within three months and around 1,000 hectoliters of salt were obtained for shipping to Europe. In September 1632 there was a first defense system with cannons and 80 men on the site of today's Fort Amsterdam.
Only a day's journey away, in the Spanish colony of PUERTO RICO, people were reluctant to watch the Dutch activities on Saint Martin. The Spanish King Philip IV gave the order to retake the island. On June 24, 1633, an armada of 53 warships and 42 supply boats with a crew of over 1,000 men ran into the Great Bay a. After a week of fighting, it was back in Spanish hands, and 128 islanders were deported. The island remained Spanish for the next 12 years. 250 soldiers were stationed on the island. Since they were only dependent on food from outside, which did not come regularly, they lived in very poor conditions and their number quickly dwindled to 120 men. The Dutch and the French knew of the poor food situation and planned to recapture the island.
After the loss of Saint Martin, the Dutch built a colony in CURACAO in 1634. At the same time, a trading office was established on the island of SINT EUSTATIUS. Peter Stuyvesant was at that time the director of the Dutch West India Company in CURACAO. In 1644 he equipped 13 ships, made himself admiral on the ship "Blauwe Haan" and sailed with 1,000 soldiers to Saint Martin, where he arrived in Cay Bay on March 10th. During the fighting, Peter Styvesant was hit in the right leg and had to be amputated.
The Spanish island governor Diego Guajardo sent a message to PUERTO RICO and requested additional troops, instead the order came to abandon the island. The Spanish troops remained on the island until 1648 before they were brought back.
On February 11, 1648, the governor of SINT EUSTATIUS gave his captain Major Martin Thomas the order to take possession of Saint Martin again for Holland.
The French governor on SAINT KITTS, in turn, sent 300 men to Saint Martin when he heard about the Dutch on Saint Martin. Officers from both nations met on March 23, 1648 on a hill and negotiated the division of the island. From 1703 the French part of the island was administered from GUADELOUPE. In the “Mont des Accords” treaty, both peoples agreed to help each other in times of need. In 1763 Marigot became the capital of SAINT MARTIN. It was not until 1816 that the final limit was set.
The Dutch settled at the foot of Fort Hill, from where they could overlook the Grote Baai and the Grote Zoutpan, the salt lake. The French farmed in the Orleans region.
Two years after this agreement, British troops occupied the nearby island of ANGUILLA in order to disrupt the Dutch-French community from here.
Between 1651 and 1665, the islands of SAINT BARTHELEMY and SAINT MARTIN were owned by the Order of Maltese, of which de Poincy was one of the leaders.
In the course of the so-called "Augsburg Wars" against France in 1689 the island population was evacuated to SAINT KITTS. After their return in 1690, the construction of a fortification began on the hill above Marigot, which later became Fort Louis.
Between 1701 and 1713, the inhabitants were expelled from the island of SINT EUSTATIUS by the Dutch.
- In 1715 there were 361 whites and 244 slaves on Saint Martin.
From 1740 to 1742 the English of ANGUILLA occupied this part of the island and plundered the plantations. The cotton plantations were replaced by sugar cane plantations, the more intensive work significantly increased the number of slave laborers. In 1775 600 white people and 3,500 slaves lived on Saint Martin.
1766 became the knight of Duras Auguste Descoudrelles Governor. He owned a sugar plantation in Bellevue and knew how to improve the living conditions of the population significantly.
In the following years, from 1779 onwards, there were repeated British attacks. On February 3, 1781, they were able to occupy Fort Louis for a full year. Between 1784 and 1794 they controlled up to two thirds of the entire island. From 1810 to 1816 they were again the sole owners of the island.
With the end of the reign of Emperor Napoleon, the island became a French crown colony after the withdrawal of the English. In 1836 the three districts of Marigot, Grand-Case and Orléans were abolished and merged into one administrative unit. She was subordinated to the military commander in chief of Guadeloupe. In 1838 this was replaced by a civil island government, in 1882 the islanders received universal suffrage. During the Third Republic from 1871 to 1940, French colonial policy was geared towards harmonizing the living conditions in overseas holdings. The colonies were allowed to send representatives to the parliament in Paris.
The end of slavery on April 16, 1848 also marked the end of the sugar boom. So one began to increase the salt production. In 1849, 358 tons of salt were extracted in the four French salt lagoons in Grand-Case, Chevrise, Orleans and Etang Rouge. By 1863, production could be increased tenfold to 3,600 tons. Cattle were raised on the former large sugar plantations, and large herds can still be seen here today. In 1850 the island was declared a duty-free port in order to increase trade.
During the Second World War, the population suffered from the occupation of France by Germany, because this led to a blockade of the island by the Allies.
After the war, the governor in Guadeloupe was replaced by a prefect appointed by Paris, and Saint Martin was given an under-prefect.
It wasn't until 1960 that there was electricity across the island, and it wasn't until five years later that the first bank opened in Marigot, when part of the Grand-Case Pond salt lagoon was filled in. The Espérance airfield was built here until 1973, from which only regional traffic is handled.
Flora and fauna
The highest mountain, the 424 m high Pic Paradis, and about a third of the country's area are covered by forest. The smallest part of it is lush rainforest with ferns, cabbage trees and white rubber tree. In the dry forest you can find tropical woods as well as the last two baobab trees on the island.
The tropical wildlife on the island names a large number of different insects, some birds such as sugar birds, pigeons, robins and hummingbirds. The only reptiles that can still be found are lizards: anoles, large, gray earth lizards, gekkos and, in limited numbers, iguanas. Their small colonies are at Guana Bay, Pointe Blanche, Flamingo Pond, near the airport and in the undergrowth of the Lowlands. Moongose has also become a nuisance on this island, and sea turtles can be found on Tintamarre Island.
Plantation economy
The French plantation owners bought their slaves on the Dutch side of the island. When tobacco was grown here on a large scale, they paid between 150 and 200 pounds (68-90 kg) of tobacco leaves for a slave. The supply of tobacco from North America and the other Caribbean islands was too large and there were already government tariffs on the trade. So many farmers switched to growing indigo, from which a blue textile dye is obtained. At the beginning of the 18th century there were 27 indigo plantations on Saint Martin. By the middle of the century, the original forest had been cut down and converted into agricultural land. At the end of the 19th century there were around 90 plantations on the island.
The Belvedere, Mary's Fancy, Saint-Jean and Spring facilities are being renovated.
Since there were no sugar cane plantations on the island, all local rum products are made with imported rum.
Christian Carreau has been importing rum from the Severin distillery in GUADELOUPE since 1993. Under the brand names Busco Rhum Blanc Agricole, it mixes 50% rum and Busco Rhum Vieux has been stored for four years and has 43% alcohol. He also produces nine rum liqueurs and rum punch. Ma Doudou, Cul-de-Sac, Tel. 873043. This small company was founded by Corrine Burgalière. Thirteen different rum liqueurs with 34% alcohol are produced at home.
language
There are hardly any language problems, the island is international. Dutch, French and English are spoken.
getting there
By plane
The island has two airfields. On the French side there is a small airfield near Grand-Case, den Aéroport L’Espérance, but only regional flights are handled there.
International air traffic runs through the airport Princess Juliana Airport at Simpson Bay, in the Dutch half of the island.
Entry requirements
Only a valid passport is required from travelers from EU countries.
Exit regulations
At Princess Juliana International Airport, an airport fee of € 30 will be charged upon departure.
Foreign exchange regulations
There are no restrictions on the import and export of currencies.
In the street
There are road links between Saint Martin and Sint Maarten without any control.
By boat
The island has a busy ferry traffic. There is a connection to the islands by ships Anguilla, Saba and Saint Barthelemy.
The yacht registration office is located in Marigot Bay on the waterfront.
mobility
Tiger from WWII for rent
The German or international driving license is recognized. The minimum age for renting vehicles is 21 years. The maximum speed in built-up areas is 20-40 km / h, outside built-up areas 60 km / h.
By bus
Public buses run every hour between 6 a.m. and midnight from Marigot to Grand-Case, Nettle Bay, Phillipsburg and Quartier d`Orleans, fare: 1.50 US $.
Taxis
All taxi drivers and the tourist offices have a detailed list of fares.
Tourist Attractions
activities
kitchen
On this part of the island you can enjoy American, European, Caribbean and international dishes at a high level. Of course, there are also French dishes such as bouillabaisse and pâte de canard everywhere.
Water supply
Six freshwater springs were known on the island as early as the 17th century. Up until the 1960s, all houses had a water cistern. Since 1976 there has been a seawater desalination plant on the northern outskirts of Margot. The original water output of 500,000 liters was increased to four million liters by 1998. This tap water is checked regularly and has European standards.
Bottled fresh water is available under the “Fond D'o” brand. Spring water that has been enriched with magnesium is offered under the brand name "Magnifique".
nightlife
security
climate
The dry season with little rain is from January to July. During the rainy season from August to December there is about three times as much rain as in the rest of the year. A whole day with rain is rather the exception, mostly there are only short showers.
In 1819 a hurricane destroyed all buildings on the entire island. In 1995, hurricane Luis caused severe damage.
literature
- Leeward Islands, K. C. Nash, Hunter Travel Guide, 3rd Edition, 2008, ISBN 978-1-58843-642-9
Maps
- Institut Geographique National (IGN), map number 4606 GT, topographic map 1: 25,000, year 2002
