Did you know this calm garden had a turbulent past? Welcome to the Company Garden also known as Jardin de la Compagnie. It is more than just greenery in bustling Port Louis.
Once this land was rugged and marshy. The first French settlers called it L’Enfoncement. This referred to the steep surface of the site. The Pouce River often overflowed causing floods. The seaside once stretched up to La Chaussée.
The Compagnie des Indes planned a seaport here. But the river dumped mud soil and stones. Heavy rains made it worse. The submersion of the area around the Company Garden was frequent. In 1793 a major flood submerged the garden within minutes.
In 1790 Port Louis gained municipal status. Mayor Thomas Esnouf acquired the Enfoncement for the city. This marked the start of the garden’s transformation.
Governor Isidore Decaen from 1803 to 1810 sped up the landscaping. In 1803 the capital’s name changed to Port Napoléon. This was after Napoleon Bonaparte. Decaen was a fervent Bonapartist.
Decaen turned the bare Enfoncement into a public promenade. It became the Jardin de la Compagnie. He canalized the Pouce River and Butte à Tonniers. Trees were planted along the borders. Decaen promoted opera and built a theatre hall. This hall stood where the Fontaine Liénard is today.
Félix de Froberville said the hall was larger than today’s municipal theatre. It hosted opera shows and was popular with young people. A violent cyclone destroyed the hall in March 1818.
Even in its natural state the Enfoncement was busy. The Pouce River attracted fishing enthusiasts and launderers. Washerwoman Street ran parallel to the stream. It is a reminder of this past.
Julien Durongotier Le Toullec, the first French Governor, settled here. He started a vegetable garden. This garden expanded and became a leisure garden.
The Pouce River divided Port Louis. The western part was Camp Creoles. Today it is Ward IV. The eastern part stretched from Place d’Armes to Trou Fanfaron. People crossed the river by stepping on rocks. In 1756 Governor René Magon built a makeshift bridge.
Governor Souillac built a stronger Chaussée in 1782. It connected Rue du Rempart and Place d’Armes. Souillac’s Chaussée improved access and boosted development.
The Great Fire of September 1816 hindered progress. Other fires followed in 1877 and 1893. The Univers Hotel opposite the Company Garden burned down in 1877. The main market moved to the Company Garden along Poudrière Street.
A part of the Jardin de la Compagnie is on a former cemetery. It was closed in 1771 by Governor Desroches. Corpses were moved to Cimetière de l’Ouest. In 1800 workers found human remains during excavation. These remains were forgotten during the exhumation.
The Temple de Douceur was not an ice-cream parlour. It was where executions of maroon slaves took place. The public could watch live. The guillotine was dismantled in 1784.
The Sans Culottes erected another guillotine in 1794. They tested it on a goat. They also demanded gunpowder from Governor Malartic.
Today the Company Garden is a place of greenery and history. It holds stories of floods governors and even executions. Take a moment to appreciate the layers of history beneath your feet here in Jardin de la Compagnie.