Hell-Bourg

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Hell-Bourg is a village in the Salazie commune of the French overseas department of Réunion. It is the main town 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.^[1]

[edit] History

Originally a small but prosperous spa town, the hot spring was blocked by a storm-related landslide in 1948, and the village quickly lost the importance which had originally caused a road to be built into the difficult mountaineous region.

After some decades of being mostly forgotten and occupied mainly by poorer farmers, tourism has since given it a modest income. As the only village on the island, it is 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.

The village, with its several small and midscale hotels is a base for hiking within the Cirque or up to the Piton des Neiges, 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.

[edit] References

1. ^ Anne Chrétien Louis de Hell (in French, due to the scarcity of detailed English sources)