Museum and archaeological site

Frederik Hendrik Museum

Vieux Grand Port is the cradle of Mauritian history. The Dutch, who arrived in 1598, settled here only in 1638, when they built Fort Frederik Hendrik; they left the island for good in 1710. The French took possession of Mauritius in 1715, set up their government here in 1722, then turned the site into a military post before abandoning it in 1806 in favour of Mahébourg. What stands above ground is of French origin, built after 1753 on the very ruins of the fort: a lodge, a prison, a bakery, a blacksmith’s workshop. The Dutch remains, excavated in 2000, lie fifty centimetres below the surface.

At a glance

Opening hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9am to 4pm; Wednesday 11am to 4pm; Sunday 9am to noon
Closed: Public holidays
Telephone: +230 634 4319
Email: mhg.museum@orange.mu
Founded: 1999

What sets it apart

The museum, opened on 27 May 1999, serves as an interpretation centre. A model of the site greets the visitor, then the main hall unfolds four centuries of occupation: stones, bricks and nails, musket balls and cannon balls, clay pipes, beads, coins, ceramics, food remains that include dugong and tortoise. On the walls of the lodge, graffiti depict ships of the 18th and 19th centuries. The site extends beyond the church of Notre-Dame du Grand Pouvoir, to the ruins of the island’s first Catholic church, founded in 1737, and to a powder house of the French period.

Highlights

The site of the first human settlement in Mauritius
The French ruins built on the Dutch fort
The ship graffiti on the walls of the lodge
A model of a Dutch East Indiaman
Free entry

Good to know

On Wednesdays the museum opens only at 11am.
On Sundays it closes at noon.
Films about the site are screened at the museum.

Getting there

On Royal Road, at Vieux Grand Port, on the south-east coast, at the foot of Lion Mountain.

Where to stay

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In the journal