Just under an hour east of Basse-Terre, on the southwest tip of Grand-Terre, this is Gwada´s biggest urban center, with roughly 15,000 residents in the town proper and quite a few more in the metro area. Lapwent (as it´s known in the local creole) is Guadeloupe’s commercial and cultural heartbeat with busy markets, street art, Creole music drifting from bars, and a slightly gritty but energetic waterfront atmosphere, where you can take a scenic stroll along the waterfront promenad Quai de la Darse and rub shoulders with locals (and browse the handicrafts) at the Marché de la Darse (the Marché Saint-Antoine is another similarly atmospheric market in town). At its heart is the Place de la Victoire, site of historic houses (one of which is home to tourism office), several monuments; the mid-19th-century Église Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul (Church of Sts. Peter and Paul), a mix of Caribbean and colonial architecture; and cafés and restaurants serving tasty Creole food, Other standout in town are the superb, 11-year-old Mémorial ACTe, a striking modern waterfront building that´s one of the Caribbean’s most important museums on slavery and memory; the Musée Schœlcher, devoted to 19th-century French abolitionist Victor Schœlcher; who at one point represented Guadeloupe in the French National Assembly and actually drafted the resolution abolishing slavery in 1848; and the Musée Saint-John Perse, an old Creole house dedicated to the life and legacy of the eponymous locally born 20th-century diplomat who also won the 1960 Nobel Literature prize for his poetry.
Read more in my post Guadeloupe and 8 of its Top Highlights.
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