Historical heritage 3.1 HAITI
Although the foundations were laid out by Henri Besse, which Haitian engineer is considered the main contractor who led the Laferrière Citadel to its final monumental form ?
75% of players answered correctly.
THE CORRECT ANSWER: Alexandre Bonnet
If the Citadelle Laferrière project was born from the titanic vision of King Henri Christophe, its architectural realization is the work of several engineers, foremost among whom is Alexandre Bonnet. Following on from the initial work of Henri Besse, Bonnet was able to tame the complex topography of Bonnet à l’Évêque to build this impregnable fortress.He is credited with the ingenuity of the flanking systems and the internal organization of the artillery galleries. His work illustrates the emergence of a truly Haitian school of engineering, capable of synthesizing European fortification treaties to adapt them to the sovereignty needs of a black state. Alexandre Bonnet is the technician who transformed a military necessity into a masterpiece of the art of building, making the Citadel not only a shield, but also a monument to the glory of human genius and rediscovered freedom.