Ruins of Château Dubuc

Visit the ruins of Château Dubuc in the woods east of Martinique to get a glimpse of Martinique's colonial history. Château Dubuc is the name given to an old farm house located in Tartane (commune La Trinité), on the Caravelle peninsula, in Martinique. This house has an aura of mystery and becomes an interesting example of Martinique's study of history in the eighteenth century. The ruins of this site are located almost at the end of the peninsula and are a haunting sight dating back to the 17th century.

Château Dubuc was built in 1725 by Louis du Buc du Galion, grandson of colonial Pierre du Buc. It was thought that du Bucs smuggled goods and trafficked slaves, so he had such a huge fortune including large warehouses and dungeons. Not only that, but folk also say that the owner of the estate used a lantern to lure the ship to sink offshore and then collect his own spoils.

The name "Château" comes from the height of this construction, in which only a few stone slabs are left to delineate the walls of a large castle. Housed in "a simple house like many other sugar mills in the 18th century", the house was built according to "classical planning of the French 18th century, with the stairs integrated into the main building". The walls are tied together with rocks and rubble of basalt and coral. Besides, from the lime kilns between the rubble and the joints between the stones, archaeologists have shown that lime is also used in this area.

The home used to be in the middle of sugar, coffee, and tobacco plantations, but nowadays, these slave houses have completely disappeared, leaving only buildings dedicated to the exploitation of sugar and coffee. Ruins of Château Dubuc which have long been considered a dungeon for slaves now houses a small museum that educates tourists about the area's history and inhabitants. It is also a great place to take a stroll with sweeping sea views, as it is surrounded by the Martinique Regional Nature Park.