MAISON DE LA CANNE
Settled in the renovated buildings of the old Vatable distillery in Trois-Ilets, the Maison de la Canne offers a broad panorama of the multiple and complex relationships that have been established between: land, plant, people. The site recounts the main events of the history of sugar cane, (Saccharum officinarum, a plant of the grass family), from the steam engine, from the mill to the slave ship, until the cutting of the cane around 1900. Through documents, models, and engravings of the period, more than three centuries of sugar economy from the late 17th to the 20th century in Martinique are told. This is an opportunity to revisit this large reed originating from Asia, which very early on interested farmers for its ability to store sucrose in its stems through the process of photosynthesis. Once harvested and then crushed in large mills, the cane yields a liquid, the vesou, which is transformed into sugar after crystallization, or into rum after distillation. From the planting of the cane to the manufacture of rum, through the extraction of sugar, all stages are faithfully described. The history of sugar cane is also directly linked to the history of colonization and slavery: particularly demanding in terms of labor, the cultivation of sugar cane in the colonies led to the massive deportation of people from Africa to cover the needs of the farms. Do not leave without having read the Code Noir.
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The visit takes place in the old buildings of the distillery: explanatory panels, prints, old material, various collections on rum.