Salvation Islands Îles du Salut
The Îles du Salut are a group of tropical islands best known for the notoriously brutal penal colony, establish in 1852, which they accommodated.
Îles du Salut are comprised of three islands, Île Royale, Île St Joseph, and the Île du Diable, the site of the infamous "Devil's Island" penal colony from 1852 to 1953.
Located in choppy, shark-infested waters they supported a convict population of almost 2,000. Today the islands are developed for tourism but for the prisoners (the most famous of whom was Alfred Dreyfus, the French Army officer falsely convicted of treason) it was "a true excursion into hell".
Îles du Salut are comprised of three islands, Île Royale, Île St Joseph, and the Île du Diable, the site of the infamous "Devil's Island" penal colony from 1852 to 1953.
Located in choppy, shark-infested waters they supported a convict population of almost 2,000. Today the islands are developed for tourism but for the prisoners (the most famous of whom was Alfred Dreyfus, the French Army officer falsely convicted of treason) it was "a true excursion into hell".
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Royal Island
Île Royale, the largest of the three Îles du Salut, was the administrative headquarters for the colony. The complex was a self-contained community of houses and offices plus a hospital, bakery, butcher shop and church.
There was a guillotine here to execute convicts who committed crimes while incarcerated.
These buildings have been converted to hotels and visitors facilities. Cruise ships dock in the harbor where prisoners were once unloaded.
There was a guillotine here to execute convicts who committed crimes while incarcerated.
These buildings have been converted to hotels and visitors facilities. Cruise ships dock in the harbor where prisoners were once unloaded.
Facilities
On-site accomodations
St Joseph Island
Île St Joseph was reserved for solitary confinement for those prisoners at Devil's Island. Tropical vines and foliage now cover the bars of the prison.
