Pamplemousses District
Pamplemousses hosts the Southern Hemisphere's oldest botanical garden (1735) with 85 palm varieties—Pierre Poivre's spice introduction attempt and Sugar Museum preserve colonial heritage.
Pamplemousses takes its name from the grapefruit trees (pamplemousses in French) that once filled the district, but its fame rests on what replaced them: the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden, founded in 1735 and the oldest botanical garden in the Southern Hemisphere. Pierre Poivre expanded the garden in 1770 to introduce spice cultivation, attempting to break Dutch monopoly on cloves and nutmeg—a plant-based industrial espionage that shaped colonial economics. The giant Victoria amazonica water lilies, 85 palm varieties from across the globe, and trees planted by world leaders from Indira Gandhi to François Mitterrand create a living collection serving both tourism and conservation. The Sugar Museum adjacent to the garden documents the crop that dominated Mauritius for three centuries, with old mill equipment tracing the mechanization that transformed production. By mid-19th century, the gardens became a testing ground for new cane varieties, the diversification attempt that kept Mauritian sugar competitive. The district extends north from Port Louis, containing industrial zones, residential areas, and the commercial development radiating from the capital. Terres Rouges and other zones host light manufacturing that employs workers commuting from surrounding districts. By 2026, Pamplemousses embodies the transition from agricultural experimentation to heritage tourism—the botanical garden that once served colonial economics now anchors cultural identity and attracts hundreds of thousands of annual visitors.