White facade
Arches and minarets.
Karsten Ratzke — CC0 · Karsten Ratzke — CC0 · Karsten Ratzke — CC0
The most famous and most beautiful mosque in Mauritius, standing in the heart of Port Louis on Royal Street in Chinatown. It was begun in the 1850s by Muslim merchants of Indian origin and enlarged in the 1890s. Its architecture blends Indo-Islamic and local Creole styles: a gleaming white facade with arches, slender minarets and small domes, massive doors of finely carved teak, and a calm inner courtyard with an ablution pool and an old almond tree. The mosque embodies the history of Muslims in Mauritius, about a sixth of the population and mostly descended from merchants and labourers who came from India. It remains the centre of religious life in the capital and fills for Friday prayers and the Eids. Non-Muslim visitors are welcomed at set times outside prayer hours, though not during Friday prayers, per visitor guides. Dress modestly, women should bring a headscarf, and shoes come off at the entrance.
Arches and minarets.
Finely carved.
The ablution pool.
Royal Street, Chinatown, Port Louis
Port Louis Central MarketThe capital's main market since the mid-nineteenth century, under Victorian-styl3 minutes walk4.2
Aapravasi GhatThe site of the old immigration depot on Port Louis harbour, through which about3 minutes walk4.3
Fort Adelaide (La Citadelle)A stone fort on a hill above central Port Louis, built by the British between 189 minutes walk4.3
Caudan WaterfrontA shopping and leisure complex on the Port Louis quayside, opened in the 1990s o9 minutes walk4.4Yes, at set times outside prayer hours and not during Friday prayers, in modest dress.