Fort-Liberté

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 19°40′4″N 71°50′23″W / 19.66778, -71.83972
Fort-Liberté Fòlibète
Aerial view of Fort-Liberté
Fort-Liberté Location in Haiti
Country	Haiti
Department	Nord-Est
Arrondissement	Fort-Liberté

Fort-Liberté (Kreyòl: Fòlibète) is the administrative centre of the Nord-Est Department, Haiti. It is located around 19°40′4″N, 71°50′23″W. It is also the chief city of an arrondissement of the same name. Fort-Liberté, one of the oldest cities in the country, was founded in 1578. The French-designed town faces a bay where one can reach many forts by boat, the most famous being Fort-Dauphin, which was built in 1732.

The city was once called Bayaha by the Indians and the Spanish; the French called it Fort-Dauphin until their expulsion in 1804, upon which the city gained its present name.

After Henri Christophe proclaimed himself King Henri I of Haiti in 1811, he renamed the city Fort-Royal; after his death in 1820 it became Fort-Liberté again.

In September of 1892 José Martí, a leader of the Cuban independence movement and a national hero, visited Le Cap, Gonaïves and Fort Liberté on his way to join the war for Cuban independence.