Port Louis
— the harbour the indenture ships came in to.
Not only on a wall.
“The capital of Mauritius, on the leeward coast under the Moka mountains. A working harbour since the French founded it in 1735, then British, then independent. The stone steps at Aapravasi Ghat are where almost half a million indentured workers from India first stepped ashore between 1834 and 1920. The city carries that history in its languages, markets, and Sunday afternoons at the Champ de Mars.
Port Louis, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Port Louis sits on the northwestern coast of Mauritius, in the southwestern Indian Ocean, sheltered from prevailing trade winds by the Moka Range. Capital and largest city, with a population around 150,000 in the urban area. Founded in 1735 by Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, French governor of the Isle de France. Ceded to Britain in 1810 under the Treaty of Paris, and independent since 12 March 1968. The natural harbour has been the country's principal port since the 18th century.
Aapravasi Ghat, on the eastern waterfront, was inscribed by UNESCO in 2006 as the site where roughly 450,000 indentured labourers from India first stepped ashore between 1834 and 1920. The arrival depot replaced enslaved labour across the British empire after abolition. The original stone steps and immigration buildings survive on the site. Above the city, the Citadel, Fort Adelaide, built by the British between 1834 and 1840, gives a working view of harbour, racecourse, and the Moka peaks.
The Champ de Mars, laid out in 1812, is the oldest horse-racing course in the Southern Hemisphere and the second-oldest in continuous use anywhere in the world. The Maiden Cup runs in August or September. February brings Thaipusam Cavadee for the Tamil community; the Chinese Spring Festival lights up Chinatown in January or February; Eid and Diwali both fall on the public calendar. The city holds all of them in the same week, most years, without much fuss.