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Heritage classified

Origin and history

The former Lavoir de Cayenne is a historic monument located in the town of Cayenne, Guyana. This site, registered by ministerial decree on 24 August 1995, represents a vestige of the architectural and social heritage of the region. Although its exact construction period is not specified in the available sources, its status as a historical monument underscores its cultural and historical importance to the municipality.

Washers, in general, played a central role in the daily lives of local communities, particularly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In Cayenne, as in other cities, these public spaces allowed the inhabitants, mainly women, to wash their laundry while serving as a place of sociability. Their presence also reflected the hygienist concerns of the time, in a context where access to running water was limited.

This wash, now protected, offers a material testimony of these social practices and past urban infrastructures.

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