Welcome to Port Louis, the capital and largest city of Mauritius and the country's financial and political centre. Dutch settlers used this harbour from 1606, calling it the Harbour of Tortoises. In 1736, under French rule, it became the administrative centre of the island and a vital stop for French ships sailing between Asia and Europe around the Cape of Good Hope. The port was named in honour of King Louis the Fifteenth, and the Moka mountain range shelters it from strong cyclone winds. Let us explore this harbour city and the stories it tells.
Aapravasi Ghat
Photo: Suyash Dwivedi · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsWe begin at Aapravasi Ghat, the Immigration Depot, a place at the heart of Mauritian identity. Mauritius was the first British colony to receive indentured, or contracted, labourers, and between 1849 and 1923 half a million Indian indentured labourers passed through this depot on their way to plantations across the British Empire. Their migration left a lasting mark on many former colonies. In Mauritius alone, 68 percent of the population is of Indian ancestry. Only the partial remains of three stone buildings survive, and in 2006 UNESCO declared the site a World Heritage Site.
Caudan Waterfront
Photo: Simisa ( talk · contribs ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsDown by the harbour is Le Caudan Waterfront, with shops, restaurants, cinemas, a marina and a hotel. It is named after Jean Dominique Michel de Caudan, who came here from Languedoc in the south of France and started a saltpan in 1726 near a small bay. The peninsula was built up around a fossil coral islet and over 250 years held a powder magazine, an observatory, quays and warehouses. For about 150 years, millions of sugar bags passed through here by boat, train and truck, until the Bulk Sugar Terminal was created in 1980.
Jummah Mosque
Photo: franek2 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsIn Queen Street stands the Jummah Mosque, which dates from the 1850s and was once known as the Mosque of the Arabs. Its architecture blends Indian, Creole and Islamic styles. In 1852, a group of Muslim merchants of Port Louis bought two properties here, and the deeds declared that the money belonged not to them personally but to the whole Muslim congregation of Mauritius. Beside the mosque, a marble tomb holds the remains of Jamal Shah, a pir from Kutch in India.
Champ de Mars Racecourse
Photo: Martin Falbisoner · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBefore you lies the Champ de Mars Racecourse, inaugurated on 25 June 1812 by the Mauritius Turf Club, the oldest horse-racing club in the Southern Hemisphere and the second oldest in the world. The track is small and runs right-handed, with a circumference of 1,298 metres and an uphill home straight of 225 metres. This was also the stage for a great national moment: when Mauritius gained independence on 12 March 1968, the flag-raising ceremony was held here. On race days tens of thousands of people gather, making horse racing the island's most popular sport.
Blue Penny Museum
Photo: Martin Falbisoner · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsAt the Caudan Waterfront you will find the Blue Penny Museum, devoted to the history and art of Mauritius, opened in 2001. Its stars are two tiny stamps, the 1847 Blue Penny and Red Penny. A consortium of Mauritian companies bought them in 1993 for 2 million dollars and brought them home after almost 150 years abroad. To protect them, the originals are lit only briefly, and most of the time you see copies. The museum also holds the original statue of Paul and Virginia, created in 1881 by Prosper d'Épinay.
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden
Photo: Condem at English Wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsOur final stop is the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanic Garden at Pamplemousses, near Port Louis, the oldest botanical garden in the Southern Hemisphere. First laid out by Pierre Poivre in 1770, it covers around 37 hectares. It is famous for its long pond of giant water lilies, and it also features spices, ebonies, sugar cane and 85 varieties of palms. Many trees have been planted by world leaders and royalty, including Indira Gandhi and François Mitterrand. The garden and village take their name from pamplemousse, the grapefruit tree that grows in the region.
Lomakuume
