Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The former Saint-Antoine monastery, located in Basse-Terre in Guadeloupe, was founded in 1897 on the initiative of Bishop Clement Soulé and the Saint-François factory. This wooden monument, organized around a square courtyard, housed a chapel and twelve rooms intended to accommodate needy people. It made up for the shortcomings of the local hospices, providing a refuge for the most deprived, especially pensioners without resources until 1985. Its architecture, typical of the West Indies, combined painted wooden facades, a masonry base and a sheet metal roof, reflecting local techniques adapted to tropical climate.

The monastery, which was inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 2007 for its facades, chapel and central basin, was destroyed by fire in October 2021. Today, only the statue of Saint-Antoine de Padua and its basin remain, witness to its charitable past. Managed by the Congregation Saint Vincent de Paul, he embodied a unique model of charitable establishment in the West Indies, combining social assistance and community life. Residents, often elderly women, cultivated medicinal plants in an adjacent garden, sold to support them.

The building of the monastery in 1897 met an urgent need to welcome the new free people after the abolition of slavery in 1848, when existing structures, such as the Lower Earth Hospice, proved insufficient. The building, restored in 1913, adopted a U-shaped plan with a central chapel decorated with a statue of the patron saint, symbolizing his religious and social vocation. Its architecture, fragile in the face of the weather, also illustrated the vulnerability of wooden constructions in the islands, now largely extinct in favour of more durable materials.

The fire of 2021 marked the definitive end of this place, which had already been removed from the Historic Monuments in 2024 because of its destruction. The Saint-Antoine monastery, however, remains a symbol of community solidarity in Guadeloupe, carried by diocesan associations perpetuating its heritage. Its history also reflects the evolution of charitable practices, from collective reception in shared cells to individual rooms, adapted to the changing needs of the local population.

The location of the monastery, close to Notre-Dame-de-Guadeloupe Cathedral, highlighted its anchoring in the urban and religious fabric of Basse-Terre. The surrounding streets, such as the historic-Lacour street, kept a mix of modest squares and bourgeois houses, reflecting the social diversity of the time. This changing urban context reminds us of the historical importance of charitable establishments in the organization of Antillean cities in the 19th century.

External links