Trou Chenilles Open Air Museum: reviving ancient village traditions while promoting community benefits in Le Morne Cultural Landscape

Trou Chenilles, the first village of Le Morne, was located south-eastern slope of the Brabant Mountain. It appeared on archival maps after the abolition of slavery, and it is today located inside the Le Morne Cultural Landscape World Heritage Property.

Since 2019, Le Morne Heritage Trust Fund has worked on the reconstruction of the village on its original location. The village reconstruction, known as Trou Chenilles Open Air Museum, is quite unique in Mauritius and as it is a replica of the ancient village, and a key element for the history of the Le Morne Cultural Landscape.

As a former slave settlement, Trou Chenilles was the place where the rich traditions of Mauritians were alive and transmitted from one generation to another also after the relocation of its inhabitants. The museum offers the chance to explore the tangible and intangible heritage of enslaved people and their descendants (Sega Tipik, fishing/hunting, games, culinary practices, charcoal and lime making, healing practices, medicinal garden).