Saint-Pierre, Martinique: Museum Memorial to the 1902 Catastrophe

Mount Pelee blew its top in 1902 on the island of Martinique. The devastation was enormous and in some places complete. The city of Saint-Pierre was particularly hard hit. Just about everyone there died except for one man, who was in jail and hid in a metal oven to avoid the effects of the blast. 

A tribute was put up to the victims of the eruption in 1933, but the facility slowly deteriorated to the point where it lost its association with the Musee de France. It was decided by city leaders to try again. Saint-Pierre put up a new building that opened in 2019. 

This is not a particularly big museum - maybe a few trailers put together would do it. There are photos and artifacts from the blast available for viewing. You can see what happened to a bell in the city that got clobbered. One particular aspect of the explosion was of interest to me. At that point in scientific history, researchers could not create super-hot temperatures on their own. After Saint-Pierre cooled down a bit, scientists raced into the region to see what the four-digit temperatures had done to certain metals.

The museum is located a block and above the waterfront, and the surrounding plaza offers some great views. It's interesting that some of the spaces in "downtown" have never been rebuild since the explosion, which might tell you something about the economy there. 

Oh, and when driving, be warned that the roads are narrow, and traffic is close to insane. Be sure to tip your driver, but he/she is a hero.