Marine cemetery

Route des Premiers Français, 97460 Saint-Paul

On the southern outskirts of town, towards Saint-Gilles-les-Bains, on the right opposite the Grotte du Peuplement, lies the Saint-Paul marine cemetery, a particularly picturesque site with coconut tree-lined paths and flowering frangipani trees overlooking a black sand beach. It is said to be the final resting place of many a pirate.

Among them was the famous Olivier Levasseur, known as “La Buse”, who scoured the Indian Ocean in the 18th century to plunder the ships of the Compagnie des Indes. His treasure, never found, is said to be hidden somewhere on the island. Legend has it that, as he lay on the scaffold with the noose around his neck, he threw a cryptogram into the crowd, shouting: “Mon trésor à qui saura le prendre!

The cemetery is also home to the graves of shipwrecked sailors, old Saint-Paul families and famous figures such as poets Hubert Leconte De Lisle and Eugène Dayot, and painter Arthur Grimaud.

Finally, between the cemetery and the sea, you’ll notice some steles on the ground. This is where a slave cemetery was uncovered by the heavy swell caused by cyclone Gamède in 2007. Nearly 4,000 bodies of slaves from Africa were discovered. This discovery has made it possible to restore a place of memory of slavery.