Pitons
— two volcanic spires rising straight out of the Caribbean.
Not only on a wall.
“Two volcanic plugs on the southwest coast of Saint Lucia, rising almost vertically from the sea: Gros Piton at 771 metres and Petit Piton at 743 metres. They stand at the mouth of the bay below Soufriere, the island's old French capital. The Pitons Management Area was inscribed by UNESCO in 2004. The water at their base is deep, warm, and reads almost ink-blue against the green flanks above.
Pitons, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Gros Piton and Petit Piton are twin volcanic spires on the southwest coast of Saint Lucia, near the town of Soufriere. Gros Piton stands 771 metres above the sea, Petit Piton 743 metres. Both are eroded remnants of lava domes formed roughly 200,000 to 300,000 years ago at the Soufriere volcanic centre. UNESCO inscribed the surrounding Pitons Management Area, covering 2,909 hectares of land and sea, as a World Heritage Site in 2004. The site appears on the Saint Lucian national flag in stylised form, as two black triangles against a blue field.
The bay between the two Pitons drops quickly to roughly 250 metres deep within a few hundred metres of shore. The Pitons Marine Management Area, established in 1995, protects the reefs, sea-grass beds, and coral walls below. Anse Chastanet and Sugar Beach sit at the foot of the formations, with sand that is partly black volcanic and partly imported white. Sperm whales and pilot whales pass close to shore in the deep channel, and humpbacks transit on the winter migration between January and April.
Gros Piton is the climb most visitors do. The trail starts at the village of Fond Gens Libre, runs about two kilometres to the summit, and climbs roughly 600 metres in elevation. A registered local guide is required by Saint Lucia National Trust regulation; guide fees are around 50 US dollars per person as of 2024. The hike takes most parties three to four hours up and down. Petit Piton is steeper, more exposed, and considered a technical scramble; it is not open without specialised local guiding.