Hell-Bourg
Encyclopedia
Hell-Bourg is a small village in the Salazie
commune (administrative division) of the French overseas department of Réunion
. It is the main community in the island's Cirque de Salazie, and is named for the respected former admiral and island governor Anne Chrétien Louis de Hell
. Previously the village had been named Bémaho. It is located at 1344 m (4412 ft) above sea level.
, and prospered as such for most of a century after the 1830 [European] discovery of a hot spring
near the future village. Contrary to many accounts of the time, this spring had obviously been known to both slaves and other locals for some time, and one colonial administrator remarked that it would be difficult to transform the area into an official bona-fide spa if slaves afflicted with leprosy and ulcers were using it. However, the eventual transformation was not to be stopped, especially after construction of a hotel was ordered by colonial authorities in 1839, and a military hospital
associated with the spring finished in 1857. A carriage road finally reached the village in 1890.
The spring had been discovered in the bed of the brook Bras Sec ('Dry arm'), a tributary of the Rivière du Mat
. It had a flow of around 800-1,300 liters per hour, and a water temperature of 32°C, and its waters were iron
-bearing, only mildly chlorinated and calcic
and contained no sulphates
. They were soon being recommended for children, weak and anaemic
adults, as well as people suffering from gastritis
. In 1852, the Société Anonyme de l'Etablissement Thermal de Salazie was founded, which built the spa
, a casino
and a director's house. Many creole
-style villa
s of rich individuals followed.
The thermal baths were soon famous even beyond Réunion - together with other spas at Cilaos
, in the island's south, and Antsirabe
at Madagascar, they became a goal of travellers from as far as South Africa, Kenya or Mozambique, as well as a vacation spot for rich vanilla
plantation
owners from the island's east. The popularity was partly due to spas being marketed widely as a cure to many of the health problems and diseases that afflicted Europeans in the colonial tropics.
failed disastrously and caused a partial collapse of the spa and the destruction of the casino.
The spring was finally fully blocked by a cyclone
-related landslide in 1948 (as were, temporarily, the roads leading to Hell-Bourg) and the village quickly lost the importance which had originally caused it to flourish in the difficult mountaineous region.
, some 26 of the traditional creole villas were restored. As the only village on the island it is, since 1999, a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France
('The most beautiful villages in France'), an award given to about 150 of the most striking small communities in France. In connection with the requirements for the award, there are few to no visible modern elements like telephone or power poles in the village.
The village, with its several small and midsized hotels, which include a small youth hostel, is a base for hiking
within the Cirque, especially to the small peak in the caldera center, the Piton d'Anchaing (4–6 hours return) or up to the island's central peak, the Piton des Neiges
(2 days return). It is also home to a small museum
, several nineteenth century Creole
buildings, and a famously colorful local cemetery. The area is also is known for growing chou chou
.
Salazie
Salazie is a volcanic caldera and commune in the department and region of Réunion.The first settlement of the area took place in 1829 after a cyclone had devastated the nearby coast, and the municipality of Salazie was formed in 1889...
commune (administrative division) of the French overseas department of Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
. It is the main community in the island's Cirque de Salazie, and is named for the respected former admiral and island governor Anne Chrétien Louis de Hell
Anne Chrétien Louis de Hell
Anne Chrétien Louis de Hell, 1783-1864, was a French admiral and the governor of the Isle de Bourbon in the Indian Ocean - now known as the French overseas department of Réunion.-Early career:...
. Previously the village had been named Bémaho. It is located at 1344 m (4412 ft) above sea level.
Spa town
Originally Bémaho/Hell-Bourg was founded as a small but prosperous spa townSpa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
, and prospered as such for most of a century after the 1830 [European] discovery of a hot spring
Hot spring
A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.-Definitions:...
near the future village. Contrary to many accounts of the time, this spring had obviously been known to both slaves and other locals for some time, and one colonial administrator remarked that it would be difficult to transform the area into an official bona-fide spa if slaves afflicted with leprosy and ulcers were using it. However, the eventual transformation was not to be stopped, especially after construction of a hotel was ordered by colonial authorities in 1839, and a military hospital
Military hospital
Military hospital is a hospital, which is generally located on a military base and is reserved for the use of military personnel, their dependents or other authorized users....
associated with the spring finished in 1857. A carriage road finally reached the village in 1890.
The spring had been discovered in the bed of the brook Bras Sec ('Dry arm'), a tributary of the Rivière du Mat
Rivière du Mât
The Rivière du Mât is a river on the Indian Ocean island of Réunion. It flows northeast from its sources on the slopes of Le Gros Morne and Piton des Neiges, reaching the sea close to the village of Saint-André....
. It had a flow of around 800-1,300 liters per hour, and a water temperature of 32°C, and its waters were iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
-bearing, only mildly chlorinated and calcic
Calcite
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...
and contained no sulphates
Sulfate
In inorganic chemistry, a sulfate is a salt of sulfuric acid.-Chemical properties:...
. They were soon being recommended for children, weak and anaemic
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...
adults, as well as people suffering from gastritis
Gastritis
Gastritis is an inflammation of the lining of the stomach, and has many possible causes. The main acute causes are excessive alcohol consumption or prolonged use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprofen. Sometimes gastritis develops after major surgery, traumatic...
. In 1852, the Société Anonyme de l'Etablissement Thermal de Salazie was founded, which built the spa
Mineral spa
Mineral spas are resorts developed around naturally occurring mineral spring locales.- Origins :Spas grew in reputation in the nineteenth century on into the late middle-twentieth century for their purported healing or healthful benefits to those wealthy enough to partake of their waters...
, a casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
and a director's house. Many creole
Creole peoples
The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kreol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...
-style villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
s of rich individuals followed.
The thermal baths were soon famous even beyond Réunion - together with other spas at Cilaos
Cilaos
Cilaos is a town and commune on the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. It is located centrally on the island, in a caldera of altitude 1214 m...
, in the island's south, and Antsirabe
Antsirabe
Antsirabe is the third largest city in Madagascar and has a population of approximately 183,000. It's the capital of the Vakinankaratra region...
at Madagascar, they became a goal of travellers from as far as South Africa, Kenya or Mozambique, as well as a vacation spot for rich vanilla
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
owners from the island's east. The popularity was partly due to spas being marketed widely as a cure to many of the health problems and diseases that afflicted Europeans in the colonial tropics.
Decline
Later, the springs were purchased by the municipality of Salazie, which in turn ceded them to the Colonial administration. However, in 1920 the water temperature dropped and boiling was required to heat it to the accustomated state which in turn destroyed some of the chemical elements. The spa started to lose its attraction. An attempt to clear the springs with dynamiteDynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
failed disastrously and caused a partial collapse of the spa and the destruction of the casino.
The spring was finally fully blocked by a cyclone
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
-related landslide in 1948 (as were, temporarily, the roads leading to Hell-Bourg) and the village quickly lost the importance which had originally caused it to flourish in the difficult mountaineous region.
Modern days
After some decades of being mostly forgotten and occupied mainly by poorer farmers, tourism has since given the village a modest income. With a partial contribution to the costs from the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, some 26 of the traditional creole villas were restored. As the only village on the island it is, since 1999, a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France is an independent association, created in 1982, which aims to promote assets of small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage...
('The most beautiful villages in France'), an award given to about 150 of the most striking small communities in France. In connection with the requirements for the award, there are few to no visible modern elements like telephone or power poles in the village.
The village, with its several small and midsized hotels, which include a small youth hostel, is a base for hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
within the Cirque, especially to the small peak in the caldera center, the Piton d'Anchaing (4–6 hours return) or up to the island's central peak, the Piton des Neiges
Piton des Neiges
The Piton des Neiges is a massive 3,069 m shield volcano on Réunion, one of the French volcanic islands in the Mascarene Archipelago in the southwestern Indian Ocean. It is located about east of Madagascar. Piton des Neiges is the highest point on Réunion and is considered to be the highest...
(2 days return). It is also home to a small museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
, several nineteenth century Creole
Creole peoples
The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kreol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...
buildings, and a famously colorful local cemetery. The area is also is known for growing chou chou
Chayote
The chayote , also known as christophene, vegetable pear, mirliton, pear squash, christophine , chouchoute , choko , starprecianté, citrayota, citrayote , chuchu , chow chow , cho cho , sayote ,...
.
External links
- La Réunion lontan > Hell-Bourg (several B&W photos of historical Hell-Bourg, official Réunion tourism website, in FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
)