The Maison du Bagnard, a work of art.

Welcome to the municipality of the Diamant, known for its majestic rock (reserve and wealth of ornithological and underwater biodiversity) off the largest beach in Martinique (about 4 kilometers). For convenience services, you will find souvenir shops, a covered market, seafront restaurants, a post office and memorial sites in the history of Martinique.

Itinerary

This artwork is easily accessible. Leaving from Fort-de-France, you must go to the town of the Diamant (towards the South of the Island by the N5 then the D7), cross the village where you can enjoy a superb view of the Rock of the Diamond going on the pontoon in front of the church. Continue on the D37, pass the Anse Caffard Memorial (Cape 110) and you will see after 5 minutes, the site on your left.

Park on the roadside, a fairly wide band is provided for this purpose and you will have no trouble finding space nearby. Come closer to admire the Maison du Bagnard more closely.

A bit of history……

The construction of this house dates from the 1960s, famous for its small size and unusual architecture, it was inhabited for a few years by its designer,  Médard ARIBOT. Born in 1901, son of a Martinique and a Congolese, he had a real genius for artistic activities. It was this talent, especially for sculpture, that sentenced him to life imprisonment in 1933 for his alleged participation in the events of the “Diamond War“. Electoral riots erupted in 1925 and a bust carved by Medard brandished the crowd. This bust was the effigy of Colonel Coppens, retired officer, owner of the Distillery of Dizac, and candidate for mayor, who was killed in riots with people living at the Diamant.

He was sent to prison in Guyana and in 1945, after the closure of the prison, he moved to Saint-Laurent where he restarted his artistic activities. In 1953, he was repatriated to Martinique at his request and continued to make works from which rare traces remain (The House of the Bagnard, a liner, an African king, …..) until his death in 1973.

You can read all this information on the sign at the entrance of the site.

Take the opportunity to go down to the cliff edge to take a closer look at the Diamond Rock. A picnic table is available if you want to have lunch there.

Finally, a seaside path has been developed by European funds. It has a length of 7 kilometers, lasting 3 hours of low difficulty. It will allow you to go along the edge of sea to the village of the Diamant.

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Dom Loisirs et Culture at your service.

OLIVIER Damien, your humble guide

The Dom Loisirs and Culture team is committed to raising awareness of the protection of the biodiversity of the overseas departments.