{"id":41290,"date":"2026-10-31T09:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T05:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lagazette-mag.io\/?p=41290"},"modified":"2026-10-15T22:05:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T18:05:41","slug":"in-search-of-a-second-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lagazette-mag.io\/en\/in-search-of-a-second-life\/","title":{"rendered":"In search of a second life\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has stood the test of time and changed its purpose several times; its stone walls\u2014the kind no longer built today\u2014have evolved to meet the needs of each era. As long as it had a purpose, it existed. Today, completely abandoned, the magnificent Moulin \u00e0 Poudre site, located in Pamplemousses, serves only as a destination for stone hunters and begs for mercy. <\/b> Eug\u00e9nie Sauzier-de Rosnay<\/em><\/p>\n

It was in the 1740s that a blacksmith\u2019s shop first sprang up on the site, which would become, in 1775, a gunpowder mill\u2014an exception during the colonial era, when gunpowder production was nonexistent in the other French colonies. When the British captured the island, the site was converted into a prison. In 1860, new buildings were erected: an orphanage housing mainly the children of indentured immigrants, consisting of dormitories and a school. The site\u2019s transformation was almost cyclical: after many years, these buildings were converted into a leper hospital and then, in part, into a district court. <\/p>\n

Since then, nothing has happened, except that it has fallen into a state of total disrepair. \u201cThe stones have been looted and the site is completely abandoned,\u201d says Jayshree Mungur-Medhi, an archaeologist and member of the Our Heritage Foundation (OHF). She knows what she\u2019s talking about, having led research at the site since 2015. Thanks to a grant from the Mauritius Research Council in 2016\u20132017, followed by one from the Nelson Mandela Center for African Culture in 2020, work was progressing well\u2026 until funding dried up. Despite Jayshree\u2019s volunteer efforts, the situation has not improved, and stone hunters continue to plunder the site. \u201cI\u2019ve alerted the police many times, but despite their visits, nothing has changed: the stones seem to be moving on their own,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

To save this priceless site, OHF will soon launch a workshop to explore ways to preserve and revitalize it. \u201cTo move things forward, we\u2019ve decided to involve public and private stakeholders in a broad-based consultation, in collaboration with international organizations such as ICOMOS and the R\u00e9seau des Grands Sites de France,\u201d she explains. According to her, there is only one solution: to breathe new life into the site by making it accessible to the public. \u201cThese sites, which are found nowhere else on the islands in the region, highlight the unique richness of Mauritius,\u201d she adds. It is becoming urgent to save this heritage! <\/p>\n

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It has stood the test of time and changed its purpose several times; its stone walls\u2014the kind no longer built today\u2014have evolved to meet the needs of each era. As long as it had a purpose, it existed. Today, completely abandoned, the magnificent Moulin \u00e0 Poudre site, located in Pamplemousses, serves only as a destination […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":41291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1774],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-heritage"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t