Fort Louis
Fort Louis history dates back to the 18th century when in 1765, the knight Descoudrelles, to protect Marigot, St Martin from the English and the buccaneers, created the defense of the borough. A battery of cannon on the point Bluff, one on the sand Round with Sandy Ground and the third on the morne of Marigot.
But it was in 1789, under the leadership of the Chevalier de Durat, governor of Saint Martin and St Barts (or Saint Barthélemy) decided to build the fort in honor of the French King so its name “Fort Louis“.
Fort Louis offers a breathtaking view of Marigot, Galisbay, the Simpson Bay lagoon, Simpson Bay, Anguilla, Lowlands and Nettle Bay.
To reach Fort Louis, you need to go by the Catholic Church then following the direction of the Prefecture and finally climbing few more steps to reach the top of the hill.
Fort Louis was originally built in order to defend the warehouses of the port of Marigot. Indeed it was in these warehouses that the products harvested by the French inhabitants were stored (coffee, salt, rum, cane sugar). But Fort Louis was quickly decayed before being restored and modified in the 19th century to finally be abandoned again.
Marigot was the seat of battles between French and English, the latter regularly landing from Anguilla (an English colony) to loot the warehouses.
