On January 1, 1804, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, one of the leaders of the Haitian revolution, declared Haiti an independent Republic from France. He commissioned one of his generals, Henri Christophe, with the task of building a citadel to protect Haiti from attack. Following Dessalines' death, the country was divided and Christophe declared himself King Henry I and continued with the citadel's construction. The citadel was built to maximize the use of artillery and provide an adequate water supply for up to 5,000 men. Extensive defensive walls made the citadel impregnable. Following construction of the citadel, King Henry moved on to construct his palace.
Built near the access road to the citadel, when originally constructed, the Sans-Souci palace rivaled any building in Europe. Construction on the palace began around 1813 and its surrounding gardens and terraces were designed based on European landscapes. The palace at Versailles in France provided the inspiration for its canals and basins. Its model was the original Sans-Souci palace in Potsdam, Germany. The palace sits in ruins in 2011, but the shell of the building is sufficient to evoke the grandeur of the palace.
Haiti's monuments are included on a list maintained by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, for World Heritage sites. The national park was established in 1978 as a monument to the first buildings built by freed slaves. As UNESCO states, it stands as a universal symbol of liberty.
On January 12, 2010, Haiti was struck by a devastating earthquake centered in its capital of Port-au-Prince. As a monument to the victims, Saint-Louis Roi de France Parish in the capital has erected a wall of 800 bricks that was unveiled on August 22, 2010. The bricks come from a chapel that collapsed as a result of the earthquake. A crack in the bricks symbolizes the earthquake. Some of the bricks contain names of the earthquake victims, including a missionary priest and 10 seminary students. Other larger monuments, some by the government, will probably follow, but this monument represents Haiti's first.
