Haiti: Citadele Laferierre
Citadel Laferierre is the largest fortress in America and one of the largest in the world. It was built by King Henri Christoff to defend the newly independent Haitian nation from the French. The fortress was built at 3,000 feet high mountaintop with 360 degree views (you can see Dominican Republic and Cuba). 20 thousand men spent 7 years building this enormous fortress, over 6 stories high with massively thick walls and fortified with 365 canons. It’s a long way even now to get here – 40 minutes by a 4WD in second gear up a steep road, and then another 30 minutes on a horseback (in the first gear) to get to the mountain top. Then there are moats, towers, and drawbridges. The fortress is absolutely impregnable…. And the attack by the French never actually materialized. These days, the citadel is being slowly restored as a UNESCO World Heritage site and the main symbol of Haiti.
