Overview:
Images documenting rehabilitation and paraseismic work at Citadelle Laferrière, capturing development staff, residents and guests on the historic fortress in Milot on Dec. 22, 2025.
MILOT, Haiti — Bernadin Blaise nonetheless remembers when vegetation coated the partitions and cannons of Citadelle Laferrière throughout his childhood within the Eighties. “It seemed soiled,” he remembers.
Now in his 40s, Blaise sat atop one of many light-brown cannons on a December afternoon, pointing with delight towards the huge stone fortress rising 2,990 ft above sea stage in Milot, a northern commune about 12 miles south of Cap-Haïtien.
Underneath the daylight, the brown stone of the 205-year-old UNESCO World Heritage website glowed. Blaise mentioned the Citadelle’s cleaner look displays many years of upkeep and restoration carried out by residents employed by the Institute for the Safeguarding of Nationwide Heritage (ISPAN), the federal government company accountable for defending and preserving historic websites. The company’s restoration and preservation work has been ongoing, on and off, for the previous 40 years.
Overseen by the Ministry of Tradition, ISPAN’s present venture on the Citadelle focuses on rehabilitation and paraseismic reinforcement— work that started in September 2025 and is anticipated to proceed by March. As soon as accomplished, the venture will enable guests to maneuver between rooms utilizing newly put in skyway bridges, increasing entry inside the fortress whereas strengthening its structural integrity.
“You thought the Citadelle was lovely,” Blaise advised a fellow Milot resident seated beside him on the cannon. “Wait till you see it after we’re finished.”
Beneath are photos from the positioning exhibiting development crews in motion, together with scenes of residents, guests and day by day life across the Citadelle throughout its rehabilitation.
