Photo: User: (WT-shared) Shoestring at wts wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 1.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Showcasing the postal history of Mauritius.
The Mauritius Postal Museum is the Postal museum in Port Louis, the capital city of Mauritius.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
ex-Coolie ghat
When slavery was abolished in 1834, slaves that had been working on the island's sugar plantations were replaced by "free" indentured labourers from India. The complex whose present name translates to "immigration depot" in Hindi was first a French building but it was expanded over the years. From 1849 until 1923 more than half a million Indians arrived here, some to be shipped onwards to other parts of the British Empire, others to be settled on Mauritius. As ancestors of about 70% of the island's population has passed through here, it's a very important site for the history and identity of Mauritius. As the practice of systematically shipping Indians to the island ended, the complex was left to decay, used for other purposes and even partially demolished in the 1970s. In 1987 it was listed as a national monument and got its present name, and in 2006 it became a .
Locals come to this square to sit down and take a break. It's surrounded by colonial French buildings, but also some high-rises. There are statues of important figures in the island nation's history like Queen Victoria, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, first prime minister of the island, Sir Veerasamy Ringadoo, first president of the island and Emmanuel Anquetil, second president of the Mauritius Labor Party. It's quite busy during daytime, also because of the traffic on adjacent streets but it's peaceful in the evening which therefore is the best time to visit.
At the waterfront there's a small casino with roulette, poker, black jack and slot machines.
The main mosque of the city was built in 1853, and enlarged during the following decades. It's a rare proof of the skills of Indian, mainly, Tamil craftsmen, who also built temples and churches. It has a madrasa (Islamic school), and in the middle of the courtyard stands an Indian almond tree, that was there already when construction began. The mosque a haven of peace in the middle of this busy capital.
The Caudan Waterfront and its surroundings has a great collection of local souvenir shops and other foreign brand materials such as clothes, and spirits. In addition to the harbour of Mauritius, you will also find the cinema, game arcades, and local restaurants.
Founded in 1880 with an exhibit on the extinct dodo, a library with more than 50000 volumes, and a lot of objects showing the history art and culture of the island. It was separated from the now-defunct Desjardins Museum museum founded in 1842 and as such the oldest museum in Mauritius and oldest in all Africa.