Hell-Bourg

Hell-Bourg is a small village in the Salazie commune (administrative division) of the French overseas department of Réunion. It is the main community in the island's Cirque de Salazie, and is named for the respected former admiral and island governor Anne Chrétien Louis de Hell. Previously the village had been named "Bémaho". [ [http://www.clicanoo.com/article.php3?id_article=97608 Anne Chrétien Louis de Hell] (in French, due to the scarcity of detailed English sources)] It is located at 1344 m (4412 ft) above sea level. [ [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/RE/0/HellBourg.html Hell-Bourg, Reunion Page] (from the Global Gazetteer Version 2.1 private website)]

History

pa town

Originally Bémaho/Hell-Bourg was founded as a small but prosperous spa town, and prospered as such for most of a century after the 1830 discovery of a hot spring near the future village. A military hospital associated with the spring was also finished in 1857 and a road open for carriages finally reached the village in 1890.

The spring had been discovered in the bed of the brook "Bras Sec" ('Dry arm'), a tributary of the "Rivière du Mat". It had a flow of around 800-1,300 liters per hour, and a water temperature of 32°C, and its waters were iron-bearing, only midly chlorinated and calcic and contained no sulphates. They were soon being recommended for children, weak and anaemic adults, as well as people suffering from gastritis. In 1852, the "Société Anonyme de l'Etablissement Thermal de Salazie" was founded, which built the spa, a casino and a director's house. Many creole-style villas of rich individuals followed. [http://www.fotw.net/flags/re-salaz.html Presentation of Salazie] (from the Flags of the World website, with further references)]

The thermal baths were soon famous even beyond Réunion - together with other spas at Cilaos, in the island's south, and Antsirabe at Madagascar, they became a goal of travellers from as far as South Africa, Kenya or Mozambique, as well as a vacation spot for rich vanilla plantation owners from the island's east. [http://www.la-reunion-tourisme.com/ville.php?v=4,,24 Salazie - Hell-Bourg] (from the official Réunion tourism website, note: English website version technically unreliable)]

Decline

Later, the springs were purchased by the municipality of Salazie, which in turn ceded them to the Colonial administration. However, in 1920 the water temperature dropped and boiling was required to heat it to the accustomated state which in turn destroyed some of the chemical elements. The spa started to lose its attraction. An attempt to clear the springs with dynamite failed disastrously and caused a partial collapse of the spa and the destruction of the casino.

The spring was finally fully blocked by a cyclone-related landslide in 1948 (as were, temporarily, the roads leading to Hell-Bourg) and the village quickly lost the importance which had originally caused it to flourish in the difficult mountaineous region. [http://www.ville-salazie.fr/v3/historique.html Les dates clés] (from the official Salazie website, in French, due to the scarcity of detailed English sources)]

Modern days

After some decades of being mostly forgotten and occupied mainly by poorer farmers, tourism has since given the village a modest income. With a partial contribution to the costs from the European Union, some 26 of the tradional creole villas were restored. [http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/projects/stories/details.cfm?pay=FR&the=9&sto=396&lan=5 Colonial splendour] (from the European Commission website. Accessed 2008-05-23.)] As the only village on the island it is, since 1999, a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ('The most beautiful villages in France'), an award given to about 150 of the most striking small communities in France. In connection with the requirements for the award, there are few to no visible modern elements like telephone or power poles in the village.

The village, with its several small and midsized hotels, which include a small youth hostel, [ [http://www.auberge-jeunesse-reunion.com/english.html Hell-Bourg - Salazie] (from the official Réunion youth hostel website)] is a base for hiking within the Cirque, especially to the small peak in the caldera center, the Piton d'Anchaing (4-6 hours return) or up to the island's central peak, the Piton des Neiges (2 days return). It is also home to a small museum, several nineteenth century Creole buildings, and a famously colorful local cemetery. The area is also is known for growing chou chou.

References

External links

* [http://www.iledelareunion.net/photo-reunion/hell-bourg-1310-130.htm La Réunion lontan > Hell-Bourg] (several B&W photos of historical Hell-Bourg, official Réunion tourism website, in French)