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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Murat Mill is an agricultural windmill built in 1814 on the Murat house, a sugar farm located in Grand-Bourg, on the island of Marie-Galante in Guadeloupe. It was built to modernise the grinding of sugar cane, probably replacing manual or animal methods. The tower, made of cut stone, is considered an architectural masterpiece of the Antillean sugar industry, with carefully worked berries.

The Murat dwelling, founded in 1657 by the Champagne notary Antoine Luce, was bought in 1807 by Dominique Murat, who renamed it "Bellevue La Plaine" after his marriage to a Creole by Marie-Galante. The mill, which was listed as a historic monument in 1990 and was classified in 1991, retains later, non-original wooden mechanisms. It is part of an architectural complex including a sugar factory and a neo-classical master house, testimonies of the golden age of sugar plantations.

The Murat mill illustrates the technical evolution of the French West Indies in the 19th century, where windmills became more widespread to increase the productivity of sugar houses. Its ranking reflects its heritage importance, both for its architecture and for its role in colonial economic history. Today, he is associated with the Écomusée de Marie-Galante and belongs to the department of Guadeloupe.

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