Hell-Bourg

Hell-Bourg is a small village in the municipality of Salazie in the French Overseas Territory Reunion. The place is located about 930 meters above sea level in the caldera of Cirque de Salazie. It was named after the former admiral and island governor Anne Chrétien Louis de Hell and was previously Bémaho.

Hell-Bourg is classified since 1999 as one of the plus beaux villages de France ( most beautiful villages in France ).

History

Spa

After Europeans thermal springs discovered in the 1830s near the village later, Bémaho / Hell-Bourg was founded as a small, but wealthy spa town and prospered more than one hundred years as such. Contrary to many reports, this time, the sources of both slaves and natives had been known for quite some time. Documentary records, according to this should have been already used by leprous slaves to healing. 1839 began the colonial authorities with the construction of a hotel for spa guests. A device attached to the hospital sources was completed in 1857. In 1890 received the village following a motorable road. With the founding of the church in 1899 Salazie Hell-Bourg is associated with that.

The thermal springs ( " Dry Arm" ) were discovered in the river bed of the Bras sec, which is a tributary of the Rivière du Mat. He had a flow rate of approximately 800-1300 liters per hour and a water temperature of 32 ° C. The water was ferruginous, slightly chloride and kalziumhaltig and did not contain any sulfates. It soon became weak and anemic children and adults recommended to people suffering from gastritis. 1852, the Société Anonyme de l' Etablissement Thermal de Salazie was founded, which built the spa, a casino and a director of the house. There followed several villas in the Creole - style for rich individuals.

The thermal baths were soon famous even outside of Réunion. Together with other spas in Cilaos in the south of the island and Antsirabe in Madagascar they have been a popular destination for travelers from South Africa, Kenya and Mozambique, as well as to the resort for rich vanilla plantation owner from the East of the island. The popularity was partly due to the fact that thermal baths have been hailed as a panacea for many health problems and diseases that plagued many Europeans in the colonial tropics.

Decline

The sources were later bought by the municipality Salazie, the ceding them to the colonial administration. However, 1920 saw a decline in water temperature, so the water had to be artificially heated by stoves, which in turn led to the disintegration of some chemical compounds. The resort began to lose its appeal.

1948 finally solved a cyclone from a landslide that blocked the thermal springs ( as well as the roads leading to Hell- Bourg ). An attempt to clear the sources with explosives, failed catastrophically, leading to a partial collapse of the spa and the destruction of the casino. The town rapidly lost importance had previously been responsible for its rapid development in the inhospitable mountainous region.

Modern time

After several decades in which the village was forgotten and populated by poorer farmers, Hell-Bourg received by tourism again a source of income. With a partial cost of participation of the European Union of traditional Creole villas were about 26 restored. As the only village on the island, it is a member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ( " The most beautiful villages of France" ), a distinction that have received about 150 of the most interesting towns in France since 1999. In connection with the requirements for the award of the prize in the village there are few to no visible modern elements such as telephone or power poles.

The village with its various small and medium-sized hotels, which include a small hostel is one, is the starting point for hikes to the Cirque, in particular for small peak in the center of the caldera, the Piton d' Anchaing ( 4-6 hours walk ) or up to the central summit of the island, the Piton des Neiges ( 2-day trip ). It is home also features a small museum, several Creoles - 19th century, a famous colorful cemetery. The area is also known for the cultivation of Chayotes.