World Heritage Site

Aapravasi Ghat

Aapravasi Ghat is among the oldest surviving immigration depots associated with indenture anywhere in the world. After the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, in 1834, the British government launched in Mauritius what it called the Great Experiment: replacing slave labour with a contracted workforce. More than 462,000 indentured labourers landed here, 97.5 per cent of them from India, but also from China, the Comoros, Madagascar, Mozambique and South East Asia, recruited for five years on the sugar plantations.

What sets it apart

The success of the Mauritian experiment led more than 2.2 million indentured labourers to the Caribbean, South America, the South Pacific and South East Asia. Two thirds of those who came through Port Louis stayed on the island, and about 70 per cent of Mauritians today are their descendants. The visit takes in the partial remains of three stone buildings of the original depot, archives and objects, pipes and medicines, and a ten-minute film of testimonies by descendants.

Highlights

A UNESCO World Heritage Site
The remains of three stone buildings of the original depot
Everyday objects of the indentured labourers
A ten-minute film carried by their descendants

Good to know

Begin with the film: it puts faces to the stones seen afterwards.
The Central Market and Le Caudan Waterfront are within walking distance.

Getting there

On the Port Louis waterfront, a few steps from the Central Market.

Where to stay

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In the journal