Le Morne Cultural Landscape
Unesco World Heritage

Facts and Data

Webpages:
Official Unesco Page

Basis Data:
Unesco World heritage since: 2008
Size of heritage: 350 ha
- Buffer zone: 2,405 ha

Coordinates:
Longitude: 57,328°
Latitude: -19,548°

About

Le Morne Cultural Landscape, a rugged mountain that juts into the Indian Ocean in the southwest of Mauritius was used as a shelter by runaway slaves, maroons, through the 18th and early years of the 19th centuries. Protected by the mountain’s isolated, wooded and almost inaccessible cliffs, the escaped slaves formed small settlements in the caves and on the summit of Le Morne. The oral traditions associated with the maroons, have made Le Morne a symbol of the slaves’ fight for freedom, their suffering, and their sacrifice, all of which have relevance to the countries from which the slaves came - the African mainland, Madagascar, India, and South-east Asia. Indeed, Mauritius, an important stopover in the eastern slave trade, also came to be known as the “Maroon republic” because of the large number of escaped slaves who lived on Le Morne Mountain.

Pictures from around the area

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