Deshaies
Deshaies is a commune in the French overseas region and department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is on the northwest coast of Basse-Terre Island.
The inhabitants are called Deshaisiens.
History
Deshaies, and its littoral zone of the Large Cape, preserve the vestiges of the primitive vegetation of Guadeloupe at the time of Christopher Columbus' arrival on November 4, 1493. The deepest bay of all the Caribbean coast and best naturally protected, it was used as shelter to the adventurers of pirates and other corsairs, and there is said to be treasure on the island.
In 1635, colonists landed at Allègre point, at the north end of the island. This part of the coast is very damp; Deshaies is an integral part of a wooded territory extending from Pointe Noire to Baie-Mahault.
On the site of the current borough was the plantation of Potherie, one of the greatest fortunes of the island in 1686. Ten years later, in 1696, the sugar plantations fell victim to the English corsairs.
The geographical configuration makes traveling to the district difficult, so inhabitants formed their own community, even to their own militia. The borough was given two cannons on April 1, 1730 and established as a community by the will of the Governor in 1732. The church was consecrated on June 29, 1733, and dedicated to Saint Pierre and Saint Paul. Deshaies was disorganized economically by Victor Hugues' conquest and the abolition of slavery. The majority of her inhabitants had taken up arms for the revolution, but the island remained in the hands of the royalists.
