Tourist information:
Located inland, the town of Ducos, Martinique, with its 16,000 inhabitants named the "Ducossais" is contiguous to the cities of Riviere-Salee, Saint-Esprit, and Lamentin, the largest city in the area.
This dynamic city has gradually abandoned its agricultural sector in favor of industrial and craft economy. Ducos today enjoys the strong development of Lamentin, which gradually transforms this city in large conurbation of Fort-de-France.
History
The town was named after Theodore Ducos, Minister of Marine and Colonies under the Second Empire. The story indicates that this old district of the parish of Riviere-Salee was called the "Cat Hole" before becoming a city in 1837. Although this origin remains controversial, the legend says that this name was given by a man called The Cat who lived at the bottom of a valley nearby.
In the industrial era, Ducos was marked by a turbulent political past, especially during the May 24th, 1925 elections. Elections in which the socialist elected representative Charles Zizine and Louis Des Etages were murdered in the street by the same bullet shot by a policeman.
To see / To do
If Ducos has a large shopping area, its vocation is not dedicated to tourism: although the town retains a certain cachet, tourists will need to travel to other cities to go swimming.
The Church of Our Lady of the Nativity : The first church built in 1877 was destroyed by a cyclone in 1891 and was rebuilt in 1901 by Henry Picq, architect of the Schoelcher Library and the Fort de France Cathedral. The ceiling, made in 1877 by Faucigny, is a unique model in Martinique, and remains an example of the 19th century know-how. The building was listed as a historical monument in 1989.
Aubéry Castle: representative of the desire for fame and fortune of one of the richest industrialists of Martinique in the early 20th century, Eugene Aubéry, the castle is located in Cross Rivail, and currently abandoned. In 1931, the area included a large house in reinforced concrete, a large outbuilding, several other buildings used as a garage, a kitchen, a barn, a large garden and an orchard. Of art Deco style, it has preserved many vestiges of that era.
The Pitt Colonnette: British tradition it became a real passion in Martinique. The pitt is a small circular arena in which cockfights are organised, and also fightings between snakes and mongooses. Days of fighting are gamble days, and large sums of money are sometimes at stake. Sensitive souls, beware!
Tomb of Josephine: Behind the Church of Our Lady of the Nativity remains the tomb of Josephine des Vergers de Sannois (1816-1847), relative of the Empress Josephine, and the first mayor of the city, Charles Huyghues Dérivy 's wife.
Canoe - Kayak : Ducos houses the largest mangrove forest of Martinique. This ecosystem consists of typical tropical vegetation adapted to salinity which extends along the coast. Tourists can visit the mangroves for a day by canoe or kayak with a team of qualified instructors.
