Once you set your feet inside the stone structure of the fort, you will surely have a striking sense of security along with a slight claustrophobic feeling as you venture into darker corners. The compartments inside the fort and the apertures in its dark stone walls give you an insight of the expert craftsmanship of Tho­mas Cun­nin­gham, the designer of the Citadel. It follows that Lieute­nant-Colonel Cunnin­gham of the Royal Engineers was the man who, drawing on his experience in the construction of forts elsewhere in the British Empire, devised the plans of Fort Adélaïde.

He included twelve 24-poun­der guns in the casemates and ramparts commanding the hill ridges and the defensive walls are well furnished with loopholes for musketry. The front and rear lines were flan­ked with caponiers, which are worth visiting for their claustrophobic atmosphere. The fort at that time contained stores, powder magazine for 280 barrels and water reservoirs for 40 000 gallons. Moreover, the barracks could house three officers and 197 men, and the entire garrison was self-sufficient in ordnance and supplies for a long siege.

During the first decades of the British administration inaugurated in December 1810, the project of equipping Port-Louis with a proper citadel erected on Petite Montagne was taken up again. The second British governor, Sir Lowry Cole (1823-1828), stressed the necessity of building the Port-Louis Citadel, an argument that was strongly supported in a subsequent report sent to Lord Howick in 1831. The report emphasised the fact that there was “no stronghold at Mauritius, no fort or Citadel which, in case of attack by a superior force, the troops could be assembled and defend themselves until (help) could be sent to them, supposing the rest of the island to be occupied by an enemy.” In June 1832 the idea obtained official recognition to the effect that “ the erection of the said Citadel is essential for the improvement of the defen­ces of the Colony”. The British Parliament approved the expenditure and the decision was taken to build the Citadel.

Although the Citadel is widely connected to the British rule in the island, it is said that the initiative of building a citadel on Petite Montagne goes back to 18th century French administration. Part of the structure was completed and served to thwart British Admiral Boscawen’s attempts at landing on Isle de France in 1748. It is also said that the structure of the fort dates back to the governorship of Mahé de La Bourdonnais and was efficiently, although awkwardly, used against Boscawen’s fleet.

On the other hand, under British rule, the decision to build the Citadel was indeed a timely one as the new British colony was exposed to threats both external and internal. On the external front the threat was from the arch-enemy of Great Britain, France. The latter had been, only twenty-five years back, the sole occupant of the island and could stage a comeback.

The building of the fort, funded from the sale of Government property in Mauritius and by means of a Parliamentary grant, extended from 1834 to 1840 during the governorship of Sir William Nicolay. The workforce attached to the construction of the Citadel was a quite heterogeneous one involving Indian convicts, British military prisoners and Mauritian criminals condemned to hard labour; skilled workers from the British Royal Engineers, Royal Sappers and Miners; craftsmen from India and local Créole and Indian masons. Strangely enough, the costly citadel had never served for the repelling or crushing of any foreign invasion or local uprising.

However, from time to time, the Citadel has been used for civilian purposes by the Muni­cipality of Port Louis. For some time, the Municipality had authorized to place a look-out post there to signal the fires that broke out in the town. This was done by means of a cannon shot. The time was also indicated by cannon boom at 1.00 p.m. They made use of twenty-one cannon booms to pay homage to important personalities arriving in Mauritius.