A day to discover the heritage of Saint-Barth

This Saturday, September 21, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., the forecourt of the Wall House Territorial Museum in Gustavia will play host to a host of events to mark Heritage Day.

Discovering and celebrating Saint-Barthélemy's heritage is the aim of the event organized this Saturday, September 21, on the forecourt of the Wall House Territorial Museum. The event is part of the European Heritage Days. From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., visitors and participants will be able to enjoy a wide range of activities. Starting with a presentation by INRAP (Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives) of the remarkable finds identified during excavations carried out on the island.
From 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., the Wall House Territorial Museum will open its doors to INRAP and its archaeologists, who will present not only their work but also the state of research in Saint-Barth. "From the presence of pre-Columbian societies to the Swedish period, a whole section of history is emerging from the ground thanks to research carried out over the last few years.The research carried out over the last few years is shedding new light on past lifestyles," sums up Wall House director Charles Moreau. The archaeologists working on Saint Barthélemy will be present at the museum all day on Saturday and from 2 to 3 pm on Sunday. The museum will be exceptionally open on Sunday from 2 to 7 p.m., and the archaeological exhibition will be open to the public until October 26. But it goes without saying that this Saturday's event will offer many other opportunities to discover the island's heritage.

Genealogy of an island
From 4 p.m. onwards, visitors can look forward to a number of events on the forecourt of the Wall House. These include a meeting with Jérôme Montoya, author of a book published a few months ago entitled "Saint-Barthélemy, histoire et généalogie d'une île". A dense book that traces the island's history through that of its families and their descendants. "It's the story of the settlers from France, England, Ireland and elsewhere, of the destruction of the pre-European world, and of the slaves brought there by force.From island to island, from century to century, they created the great Caribbean genetic and cultural melting pot we know today, of which Saint-Barthélemy is a part", summarizes Jérôme Montoya in his preface. "I had started to work on a direct family genealogy, but then I realized that I needed to move on to a tree of all the inhabitants, and even, in some cases, a tree of the whole family. a tree of all the inhabitants and even, sometimes, to include people who lived on other islands, as everyone crosses paths here or there", he adds. A beautiful book with chapters on the Lédée, Bernier, Questel, Gréaux, Laplace, Giraud, Blanchard, Turbé families and many others. To be discovered in the company of the author on the museum forecourt.
The day will also be marked by an exhibition of drawings on maritime heritage by kindergarten children, straw braiding workshops, a virtual diving workshop to discover the ocean, with the discovering the ocean with the Agence territoriale de l'environnement, demonstrations and tastings organized by the Comité territorial des pêches, etc.
At 5 p.m., the prize-giving ceremony for the photography competition organized on the theme of local wildlife and the coast by the Conseil territorial des jeunes will take place.
For refreshments, visitors can turn to the stalls run by Anse Caraïbes and Rolande.
However, the official program does not specify whether, as in previous years, visits to historic sites will be offered to the public.