On Tuesday January 12th, 2010 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake centered 16 miles west of Port-au-Prince, reduced the Haitian capital to rubble. A quarter of a million buildings were damaged or destroyed, over 100,000 people lost their lives, and millions were rendered homeless. The scale of the devastation was on a level most of us can’t quite comprehend. This is my first postcard from Haiti, and it features a historic site 70 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake and therefore unaffected directly by the devastation. I’m writing this post to remind people that natural disasters should not permanently discourage tourism. When recovery in an affected area begins, what can often help is the influx of dollars which come from travelers visiting and soaking up culture. Whenever you spend money overseas it trickles into the economy in all sorts of ways, and you can indirectly can help populations rebuild and restart their lives. There’s plenty of Haiti to see, experience, and explore!
The building in the postcard is La Palais de Sans Souci (Sans-Souci Palace), located in the tiny area of northern Haiti known as Milot. The “care-free” Palace was constructed between 1810 and 1813 to be the royal residence of King Henry I (better known as Henri Christophe), Queen Marie-Louise, and their two daughters. Henri Christophe was a key leader of the Haitian Revolution which separated Haiti permanently from France in 1804 (this was the first free nation created in the Americas out of the ravages of slavery — Haiti existed 60 years before the United States abolished slavery). On February 17th, 1807, after fearing his fellow revolutionaries and creating a separate nation in the north, Henri Christophe was elected President of the Free State of Haiti (he was proclaimed Henry I, King of Haiti in 1811).
Before the construction of Sans Souci Palace, Milot was a French plantation that Henri had managed during the Haitian Revolution. King Henry wasn’t terribly kind to his subjects who “slaved” to build him a grand Palace on his former plantation. Many laborers died during it’s expedited construction, the exact number is unknown. When it was finished, the palace was the site of opulent feasts and dances; it had immense gardens, artificial springs, and a system of waterworks unparalleled by any structure in the Americas at the time. The impressiveness of Sans Souci was part of King Henry’s concept of demonstrating to foreigners, particularly Europeans and Americans, the power and capability of the black race (as well as fulfilling his own private desires for wealth, power, and his peer’s envy). Baron Valentin de Vastey, advisor to the King, proclaimed that the palace was “erected by descendants of Africans, show[ing] that we have not lost the architectural taste and genius of our ancestors who covered Ethiopia, Egypt, Carthage, and old Spain with their superb monuments.”
Henry’s reign drew heavily on the examples of European Monarchs. He established a hereditary nobility, a royal court, a coats of arms, and a prescribed ceremonial dress. He was paranoid of a re-invasion from their former colonial mother, and so had the Citadelle Laferrière mountaintop fortress built near the palace, mostly to protect his own interests. His reign was marked by harsh public sentiment against what many perceived to be his feudal policies and strange autocratic decrees. After living in the palace for a mere seven years Henry suffered a debilitating stroke. In fear of a coup, he shot himself in the head with silver bullet, ending his reign over Haiti (he is buried at Citadelle Laferrière). His nephew and heir, Jacques-Victor Henry, Prince Royal of Haiti, was bayoneted to death by unhappy revolutionaries at Sans Souci ten days later.
A severe earthquake in 1842 damaged the palace to such an extreme state that it was abandoned to nature and never repaired. The Caribbean equivalent of the Palace of Versailles existed for one year shy of 30 before being left to history. In 1982 UNESCO placed the mantle of World Heritage Site on the ruins of the once magnificent palace, and today it’s a well visited monument to the first years of Haitian Independence. Sadly, a 2010 report of the Global Heritage Fund identified the palace as one of 12 worldwide heritage sites most “on the verge” of irreparable loss and destruction, citing insufficient management by its government caretakers.
Pay Sans Souci a visit, and while you’re there go balls to the wall with sightseeing, get in touch with your “travel freak.” It’ll help Haiti recover, and you’ll get an amazing experience out of it. -Kev