Saint Louis Cathedral

Ownership of the municipality

Museums of France

All cathedrals in France

Crédit photo : Auteur inconnu - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Temps modernes

Révolution/Empire

XIXe siècle

Époque contemporaine

1700

1800

1900

2000

1671

First straw church

1678-1685

Hard construction by Blénac

1839

Earthquake

1891-1895

Reconstruction by Picq

9 octobre 1990

Historical monument classification

2015-2016

Restoration of the arrow

Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The Cathedral (Box BC 721): by order of 9 October 1990

Key figures

Charles de Courbon-Blénac - Governor of Martinique	Sponsor of the hardwood building (1678).
César Jolly - Government architect	Designed the cathedral inaugurated in 1854.
Pierre-Henri Picq - Parisian architect	Author of the present cathedral (1895).
François Lubin - Restoration engineer	Directs the work of the 1970s.
Étienne Poncelet - Chief Architect MH	Supervises the 2015 restoration.
Mgr Carméné - Archbishop	Inaugurate the cathedral in 1895.

Origin and history

Saint Louis Cathedral of Fort-de-France, dedicated to King Saint Louis, is an emblematic Catholic building of Martinique. Its history began in 1671 with a modest straw church, replaced in 1678 by a hard construction led by Governor Charles de Courbon-Blénac. Several times damaged by fires, tidal waves and an earthquake in 1839, it was rebuilt in 1845 by architect César Jolly, before being destroyed by a cyclone in 1891.

The present cathedral, designed by the Parisian architect Pierre-Henri Picq, was erected between 1891 and 1895 in a neo-Gothic and Romano-Byzantine style. Its fully metallic structure, manufactured in metropolitan France by Moisant-Laurent-Savey, gives it a resistance to earthquakes. Inaugurated in 1895, it suffered damage during the 1953 earthquake, requiring partial demolition of its arrow in 1971. A major restoration, led by François Lubin between 1976 and 1979, gave him a new aluminium arrow.

Ranked a historic monument in 1990, the cathedral has been continuously restored since the 2000s, including the nave, the low side and the arrow, replaced in 2016. Its interior, decorated with Neret stained glass windows and 19th-century furniture, combines tropical floral decor and religious symbols. The carved wooden pulpit and the wrought iron grilles with the weapons of Saint Louis bear witness to its rich artistic heritage.

The cathedral embodies the turbulent history of Martinique, marked by natural disasters and successive reconstructions. It remains a major place of worship and an architectural symbol, combining European influences and local adaptations. Its interior decoration, protected since 1990, and its stained glass windows narrate the life of Saint Louis make it a jewel of the Antillean heritage.

The Saint-Louis Cathedral, owned by the commune of Fort-de-France, has also been the seat of the Archdiocese of Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France since 1967. Its bell tower, culminating at nearly 59 meters with its renovated arrow, dominates the urban landscape. The recent works, led by Étienne Poncelet, chief architect of historical monuments, aim to preserve this unique monument, a witness to the resilience and faith of Martinique.