Diamond Botanical Gardens

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The Diamond Botanical Gardens are a botanical garden on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia . There you will also find the Diamond Falls , the "most colorful waterfall in the Caribbean".

description

The Diamond Botanical Gardens are located on the grounds of the Diamond Estate . The former plantation is located in a volcanically active zone, where sulfur springs arise in a gorge. There used to be a bathhouse, but it has completely fallen apart. Around the Diamond Falls , which are colored by the mineral-rich water, Joan Devaux laid out the botanical garden in the 1980s, which covers around 2 hectares. Various palms , bananas , citrus fruits and cocoa grow amidst hibiscus, ginger , heliconias , vanilla and other tropical plants.

history

In 1713 the Devaux family was given a part of St. Lucia by Louis XIV as a thank you for their services . The original property covered 2000 acres (8 km²) and included the sulfur springs and the area of ​​what is now Soufrière. It was not until 1740 that three brothers claimed the land for themselves and founded a plantation on which citrus fruits, copra and cocoa were grown. In 1784 the health resort for veterans of King Louis XVI began. who appreciated the healing hot springs. Huge stone thermal baths were built on royal orders, some of which are still in use today. The bathhouse was completely destroyed during the French Revolution .

In 1930 the then owner of the property, Andre du Boulay , decided to renovate the baths for private use and in the 1980s Boulay's daughter, Joan Devaux, laid out the botanical garden.

Diamond Falls

The Sulfur Springs feed both the baths and the Diamond Falls . There rainwater and water from the sulfur springs mix. The cascade drops about 17 m. Depending on the incidence of light, the water takes on different colors and due to the mineral-rich water, the surrounding rock is covered with colorful deposits. Bathing is not possible there. A path to the waterfalls also leads to an old sugar mill that still has a water wheel from 1765.

Web links

Coordinates: 13 ° 51 '7.8 "  N , 61 ° 2' 53.4"  W.