Terre-de-Haut

Les Saintes had no springs, so the Arawak and later Kalinago peoples of Guadeloupe and Dominica visited them without settling; axes and pottery found at Anse Rodrigue are kept in the Fort Napoléon museum. A French expedition annexed the islands in 1648 at the request of Guadeloupe's governor, and in 1666 an English attack was broken by a hurricane and the attackers were driven out; they surrendered on 15 August, the feast of the Assumption, which became the island's patron feast.

The islands' sheltered bay made them strategic, and in 1777 work began on Fort Louis on the Morne Mire, a fort on the islet of Cabrit and watchtowers on the Chameau. The naval battle of April 1782 that takes its name from the islands was fought nearby, and the British occupied them again in the Napoleonic wars until 1816. A fortification in the manner of Vauban, today's Fort Napoléon, was built on the Mire to guard against another conquest. In 1882 Terre-de-Bas became a separate commune, leaving Terre-de-Haut as its own municipality.

Tourism began with the first inns in 1934; in 1963 the liner SS France moored in the bay on its first transatlantic voyage. A desalination plant supplied water from 1972, the fort was restored as a museum in 1974, and in 1991 the bays of Pompierre and the Pain de Sucre became protected sites. The earthquake of 21 November 2004 damaged vulnerable buildings and hit tourism for a time.

Terre-de-Haut's identity comes from the sea and from its settlers. The population descends largely from Breton, Norman and Poitevin families who came to fish rather than to build slave plantations, which explains the largely European origin of the Saintois, and their Creole avoids the Guadeloupean pronunciation of r. Fishing has long been central to the island's life, and the saintoise, the traditional fishing boat, is still built in local yards that take orders from other Caribbean islands. The salako, a hat of bamboo fibres, is the other local craft.

The great event of the year is the feast of the Assumption, the patronal festival that also celebrates the victory of 15 August 1666. From 14 August there are beauty contests, dancing, competitions and fireworks; 16 August is the day of the sailors and seamen; and the festival is famous for its Caribbean music, with songs such as Viv Terre-de-Haut sung for official occasions.

Local memory runs deep: in 1957 the death of the mayor Théodore Samson in the gendarmerie office set off an uprising against the gendarmes. The green iguana, common on the island, is its heraldic symbol.

About 1,460 people lived on Terre-de-Haut in 2023, according to INSEE, down by 4.5 per cent since 2017. It is the most populous island of Les Saintes, and the commune also includes several small uninhabited islets.

The economy rests on fishing and tourism. Most of the catch is sold on the local market and ends up on restaurant tables, and the ferries and cruise ships bring day visitors who fill the pier, the shops and the beaches. Guesthouses, bungalows, bars and restaurants make it the most tourist-oriented of the archipelago's two communes, while Terre-de-Bas remains mainly residential.

Cars are few, and people get about on foot, by scooter, bicycle and electric cart. A desalination plant has supplied the islands' water since 1972. Much of the coast and hills is protected, from the bays of Pompierre and the Pain de Sucre to Grand-Îlet and the Chameau. The islanders share the wider concerns of the archipelago — depopulation, the cost of living and dependence on Guadeloupe.

Les Saintes cook Creole food with a strong lean towards the sea. Alongside accras and boudin, island specialities include fish sausages, conch pies, fish pâté baked in the oven, breaded crêpes filled with fish and béchamel, smoked fish, octopus and conch fricassees, blaff fish broth and grilled lobster. Kid colombo and buccaneer chicken, grilled and smoked on the barbecue, cover the meat side, flavoured with the archipelago's own colombo powder and spices.

The island's signature is the tourment d'amour, a shortcrust tartlet filled with coconut jam and topped with a thin sponge, now also made with banana, pineapple or guava. It is said to have been baked by fishermen's wives to welcome their husbands home at dusk, and local women sell it at the pier to passengers stepping off the ferries.

Cheap food centres on the bourg: bakeries that turn into fast-food counters, serving bokit, a fried-bread roll stuffed with chicken, cod or tuna, along with accras and sausage rolls, and stands near the beach at Pompierre. On Terre-de-Bas, limbés — sweets of tamarind, sugar and condensed milk — are made, and banana or coconut custard pudding rounds off a meal.