Citadelle Laferrière

Walls of the citadel.

Commissioned in 1805 by Henri Christophe and completed in 1820, the fortress was built as part of a system of fortifications designed to thwart potential foreign incursions; notably the French. During the stronghold's conceptual phase, Christophe was a general in the Haitian army and chief administrator of the country's northern regions. The ensuing power struggle he had with his rival and fellow revolutionary Alexandre Pétion, would result in his self-declaration as king of Northern Haiti in 1811.[1]

The Citadelle, constructed by over 20,000 ex-slaves, was built several kilometres inland atop the 900-metre (3,000 ft) Bonnet à l’Eveque mountain, as a means of providing the optimal military vantage point. The location enabled Haitian forces to strategically keep watch over a vast distance, from the nearby valleys to the coastline.[2][3] Cap-Haïtien and the adjoining Atlantic Ocean are visible from the roof of the fortress. It is the largest fortress in Haiti and one of the largest in the New World; it continues to serve as a symbol of Haitian independence.[4]

The Haitians outfitted the fortress with 365 cannons of varying size, assembled from the abandoned munitions left behind by the European forces that formerly occupied the island. The enormous stockpiles of cannonballs still sit in pyramidal stacks at the base of the fortress walls. Since its construction, the fortress has withstood numerous earthquakes, though a French attack never came and it was eventually abandoned.

View from the walls.

In the event of an invasion, Christophe planned to have his military burn the valuable crops and food stocks along the coast, then retreat to the fortress, setting ambushes along the sole mountain path leading to the Citadelle.

Christophe suffered a stroke in 1820, and some of his troops mutinied. Shortly afterwards, he committed suicide—according to legend, by shooting himself with a silver bullet.[5] Loyal followers covered his body in quicklime and entombed it in one of the Citadelle's interior courtyards to prevent others from mutilating the corpse.[6]

^ Madiou, Thomas (1849). Histoire d'Haïti, Tome 3. Courtois. pp. 313–316. ^ "Haiti's Turbulent Birth Haunts Crumbling Fortress". Washington Post. 1997. Retrieved 2020-06-26. ^ Sarah Baxter (2019). A History of the World in 500 Walks. White Lion Publishing. p. 284. ISBN 978-1-781-31937-6. ^ "Haiti Conservation and Reconstruction Efforts". August 10, 2010. ^ Monfried, Walter, "The Slave Who Became King: Henri Christophe", Negro Digest, Volume XII, Number 12, October, 1963. ^ Cheong-Lum, Roseline Ng, Jermyn, Leslie (2005). Cultures of the World: Haiti. Marshall Cavendish. p. 102. ISBN 9780761419686.