Basse-Terre

Basse-Terre Review

Because Pointe-à-Pitre is so much bigger, few people suspect that this town of 15,000 is the capital and administrative center of Guadeloupe. But if you have any doubts, walk up the hill to the state-of-the-art Théâtre Nationale, where some of France's finest theater and opera companies perform. Paid for by the French government, it's a sign that Basse-Terre is reinventing itself. Founded in 1640, it has endured not only foreign attacks and hurricanes but sputtering threats from the nearboy volcano, La Soufrière. The last major eruption was in the 16th century, though the volcano seemed active enough to warrant evacuating more than 70,000 people in 1975.