In 1902, Mount Pelee in the island of Martinique erupted. It caused many people to move to a new location - in this case, Fort-de-France. Many of those people needed a new church for worship. But they needed something fairly big.
By 1915, architects were hired and went to work. Construction was started in 1924, and finished a year later. The Church of the Sacred Heart of Balata was dedicated to the memory of lost soldiers from World War I.
But what did it look like? This is the fun part. It looks just like the Sacred Heart Basilica back in Paris ... but at one-fifth the size of the original. There were a few adaptations to account for local tastes. The residents were very proud of the finished product, and remain so to this day.
Historic churches seem to be a bit rare in the Caribbean, so this one has become a good-sized tourist stop. Adding to the fun is that it is up on a hill and has a nice view of the area. There are also some gardens on the grounds. Photo opportunity? Sure. But it's perhaps worth noting that the inside of the facility needs some repair work, which for whatever reason surprised me a bit.
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