History of Mauritius – Reconstructed Village of Vieux Grand Port to Commemorate the Battle of 1810
This will make a real dive into the history of the country under French and English period: the public will discover the straw houses where the slaves and coolies lived. It may also get an idea of the city of St Malo in France thanks to a series of painted panels. There are also paintings by Mauritian artists or those of St Malo.
An authentic museum has also been specially designed to evoke the periods of Holland, French and English. But the village of Grand-Port itself is full of stories, particularly as regards to the landing of the first Dutchman in 1638. According to historian, the British saw that Mauritius had an interest mainly according to its strategic position on the route to India. The Battle of Vieux Grand Port took place in August 1810 and ended in the only French naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars, victory recorded on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The win allowed the French to keep the Ile-de-France for a short duration.
To commemorate the bicentenary of the battle in 2010, Marcel Lindsay Noe, supervisor of the bicentennial celebration, designed and built a small historical village to revive Old Grand Port during the French era on the opposite bank at the Falaises Rouge, a symbolic place of the French period. It was during his visit to France in 2006 that the Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam had given a painting of the French navigator known by the name Surcouf to the French President, Jacques Chirac, as part of the commemoration of the Battle of Vieux Grand Port. And the French government has provided assistance to this important project, which was then approved at the Council of Ministers in August 2006. Also on the program, there is the identical reconstruction of the corvette “Le Revenant”, built by the privateer Robert Surcouf in Saint-Malo in 1806. This corvette had participated in the Battle of Grand Port. “The Revenant” measuring 34.43 meters long, was equipped with twenty guns, of 12 pounds and had a crew of 150 sailors.
Marcel Lindsay Noah said he worked fifteen years in the historic village. The commemoration will also lead to the construction of a museum of military and civil suits of the era, displaying models of vessels that participated in the battle. Those who are History buffs can also visit a theater where their historians tell the story of our country, there they will browse a gallery. Those who are fond of memories may acquire at Art of the Sea, a boutique offering handcrafted products, but they can also contemplate the vestiges of the past by enrolling in an archaeological diving club. Marcel Lindsay Noe points out that the staff will be costumed period pieces. There will even be a corner for children: the Pirate’s Cove. A film shooting on Matthew Flinders is also planned.
The historic village will be an opportunity for Mauritian and foreigners alike to visit another Mauritius island, that of 1810, and to relive the history of our island and tasting the heritage, in addition to avail to the opportunity of sunbathing, the beach and the sea.
The village falls within the concept of ecotourism which the Mauritus Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) adheres. In addition to activities on land, other events are planned to commemorate the bicentenary of the Battle of Vieux Grand Port, including a gathering of sailboats, with the participation of some thirty countries and even a race of tall ships in the bay of Mahebourg, opportunity for the international press to enhance Mauritius. This will be the biggest promotion that Mauritius has ever known.
