Depaz Castle and Distillery – Habitation La Montagne

A free tour of this 80-hectare estate, planted with trees over a hundred years old, allows you to explore the different areas.

Château Depaz
Occupied by the Depaz family until the mid-1980s, you can visit the dining room, Victor Depaz's study, the games room, the smoking room and the archive room, where you will discover period furniture, objects and documents.

The gardens, laid out in vast terraces, bear all the hallmarks of the classicism developed in the aristocratic estates of metropolitan France. The masonry work plays a full part in the composition: balustrades crown the retaining wall of the front terrace, and a fine horseshoe-shaped staircase incorporating a nymphaeum linking the rear platforms. Some very fine trees enhance the whole: a majestic Caribbean albizia, talipot palms with braided trunks, and a gigantic rubber tree near the distillery. The price is €5, including a tour of the château and a tasting of rum or syrup.

The Rum Museum
This small museum, set against an ageing cellar and surrounded by old machinery, displays various typical objects, most of them made of copper.

La Case à Louisette
In the shade of an impressive 20-metre-high rubber tree planted in 1960, this brightly-coloured hut bears the name of one of Victor Depaz's first workers. Today, you can sample local syrups and homemade cakes.

The Augets Wheel
This paddle wheel bears witness to the use made of mountain water in the north of Martinique as far back as the 18th century. It is still spinning.

The distillery
As in its early days, the Depaz distillery is powered by a steam engine. The sugar cane used to make Depaz AOC rums is grown on Martinique's unique Montagne Pelée terroir. During the cane season, you can watch the production process from February to June.

The Depaz shop
The Depaz boutique is open 7 days a week, from 10am to 5pm, for tasting and selling our rums.

Le Moulin restaurant in Cannes
Situated in the grounds of the park, the restaurant offers local cuisine combining tradition and modernity.

A little history
The birthplace of the Depaz brand, La Montagne was originally an agricultural estate founded in 1651 by Jacques Duparquet, the island's first governor. The land was used to grow tobacco and indigo, as well as livestock, but was soon converted to sugar cane. The Pécoul family bought the estate and built the château right next to the factory. The Depaz family then worked on the house, which remained prosperous until 1902. On 8 May 1902, the entire town of Saint-Pierre was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Pelée, and the house was reduced to ashes.

In 1917, Victor Depaz, whose entire family had perished, bought 521 hectares of fallow land from the Pécoul heirs and built a new factory, whose rum was recognised in 1922. At the same time, he also had the neoclassical Château Perrinelle-style house rebuilt. He moved in with his wife and their 11 children. The house became known as "Château Depaz".

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