Cours de la Martinique

7-metres wide, the route of Cours de la Martinique was obtained by aligning Rues Plantey, Doisy and Saint-Esprit in 1896. It was created to ease communications and delivery between the docks and the commercial and industrial heart of this part of the city, which, at that time, specialised mostly in the wine trade. This avenue was named in memory of the catastrophe that destroyed Saint-Pierre on 8 May 1902. Martinique's richest and most populated city, which was proud of its Italian-style theatre, a replica of the one in Bordeaux, was nickname "Little Paris". It was completely destroyed by a burning cloud produced during the eruption of Mount Pelée. More than 25,000 people perished. Only one survivor was found, a prisoner who had been protected by the thickness of the walls of his cell.