Port Louis - City of Mauritius

Port Louis is the capital of Mauritius. It is the largest city of the country and main port, which borders the Indian Ocean. It is located in the Port Louis District. The population is 147,688.

Port Louis was founded by the French around 1735 as a revictualling halt for their ships travelling around the Cape of Good Hope, and was built by skilled Tamilian craftsmen from India around 1728. The Port is named in honour of King Louis XV. The first Governor was Count Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais.

Port Louis has attracted various artists and writers in the past, among the most renowned of them are Bernardin de Saint Pierre, Mark Twain, Nicolas Pike, Charles Baudelaire, and Paul-Jean Toulet.

Mauritian writers like Malcolm de Chazal, Marcel Cabon, Félix Laventure, Loys Masson and Marie-Thérèse Humbert chose Port Louis and its vicinities as locations for some of their novels and poetry.

Other Port Louis born poets and writers, like Robert Edward Hart and Khal Torabully, also made of this intricate and fascinating town the setting of some of their texts.