Souillac is a village close to the southernmost point of the main island of Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

. It is the capital of Savanne

Savanne

Savanne is a district in Mauritius. The capital is Souillac. As of the 2000 census, the district has a population of 66,356 and covers an area of 243 km².The south of Mauritius is one of the most scenic and unspoilt parts of the island...

 district

Districts and dependencies of Mauritius

||The island of Mauritius is divided into 9 districts :# Black River # Flacq # Grand Port # Moka # Pamplemousses # Plaines Wilhems...

. It was named after the Vicomte de Souillac

François de Souillac

François, Vicomte de Souillac was born on 2 July 1732 in Périgord. He was Governor General of Pondichéry, Réunion He entered the navy in 1749 and he was named governor of Bourbon on 23 December 1775. On 15 October 1776 the Governor De Souillac created by ordinance, the "Quartier du Repos de Laleu"...

, the island's governor from 1779-1787.

History

In 1787, Vicomte de Souillac decided to create a port for the south and south-west of the then Ile de France. At that time the island was an important port of call for the French vessels on their way to and from India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. Strategically the French also wanted a base for the defense of the southern coast. The most suitable place to erect a port was the southernmost point of the island where a large and deep estuary (formed by the Savanne River), without coral reefs, would permit the vessels to accost nearest to the land. The port would also be used for the transportation of agricultural products (including sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

) to Port Louis

Port Louis

-Economy:The economy is dominated by its port, which handles Mauritius' international trade. The port was founded by the French who preferred Port Louis as the City is shielded by the Port Louis/Moka mountain range. It is the largest container handling facility in the Indian Ocean and can...

 as no suitable road could link Port Louis

Port Louis

-Economy:The economy is dominated by its port, which handles Mauritius' international trade. The port was founded by the French who preferred Port Louis as the City is shielded by the Port Louis/Moka mountain range. It is the largest container handling facility in the Indian Ocean and can...

 with the Southern part of the island at that time.

On the 1st of January 1787, a Royal Order ascribed to the locality the name of "Port Souillac", partly to honor the Vicomte's contribution to the development of the port. Vicomte de Souillac left Ile de France on the 5th of November 1787.

During the English colonisation

Colonisation

Colonization occurs whenever any one or more species populate an area. The term, which is derived from the Latin colere, "to inhabit, cultivate, frequent, practice, tend, guard, respect", originally related to humans. However, 19th century biogeographers dominated the term to describe the...

, the port has been greatly used for the transportation of sugar from the many southern sugar factories to the Capital (Port Louis) making it the most busy seaport in the south. Its importance started to decrease with the introduction of railways in the island from 1877. With the development of other means of transport, the port became less and less used. However by that time, the locality had already grown into a village. The village kept the name of Souillac.

Population and geography

Initially, the village was mostly composed of fisherman families. But with the development of agriculture (specially of sugarcane plantation) and transports, its population quickly diversified. Above 6000 inhabitants now live in the village. Inhabitants of Souillac are called Souillacois/es (which distinguishes the Souillac-Mauritius inhabitants from the Souillac

Souillac

Souillac is the name of two places:*Souillac, Lot, in the Lot département of France*Souillac, Mauritius, a city and the capital of the district of Savanne...

-France inhabitants called "Souillagais/es").

Expansion

In the late 1980s, there has been a first expansion of the village with the vast majority of an ancient small sugarcane fields labourers locality called "Terracine" (which has now been almost completely destroyed) given land in the northern part of the village to build their houses.

Further expansions occurred when the inhabitants of another sugarcane field labourers locality called "Combo" were moved to Souillac.

Developments

More recently, a new quarter has been created, commonly known as the "Morcellement Gris-Gris". Houses have also been built along the Laby Barkly Street, extending the village on its north east.

Geography

Souillac is located at the southernmost part of island. It is separated on the west from the village of Surinam by the Savanne river and on the east from the village of l'Union by the Bain des Naigresses river. The main road snakes through the village from its north east to its west, from the Bain des Naigresses bridge to the Souillac/Surinam bridge. Although there is no official apportionment of the village, the local people often distinguish the parts of the village as follows: quartiers of Terracine, L'église, Pitot, Gris-gris, EDC and L'hopital.

Capital of Savanne District

Souillac is an important village for the southern region. Various State facilities and services are found in the village: The District Court of Savanne; the southern section of the Central Water Authority and the Central Electricity Board

Central Electricity Board

The United Kingdom Central Electricity Board was set up under The Electricity Act 1926 to standardise the nation's electricity supply. At that time, the industry consisted of more than 600 electricity supply companies and local authority undertakings, and different areas operated at different...

; the Southern section of the National Transport Corporation

National Transport Corporation

National Transport Corporation is a parastatal bus operator in Mauritius. The company operates 430 buses. There are 65 bus routes, some of which carry 21,000 passengers daily.-See also:* Mauritius Bus Transport* Rose-Hill Transport* Triolet Bus Service...

; a recently built modern hospital (which replaced the old Souillac hospital). The Post office of the village is also one of the oldest of the island and is housed in the building of the old train station.

Telfair Garden

The Telfair Garden is a nice place near the seaside where the inhabitants often go for a picnic. The garden bears the name of Charles Telfair

Charles Telfair

Charles Telfair was an Irish botanist.-Early life and career:Telfair was the son of a Belfast schoolmaster. He studied chemistry under Joseph Black and later qualified as a medical doctor. In 1797 he joined the Royal Navy and was soon appointed as ship's surgeon, visiting Mauritius and Réunion...

, a naturalist and land proprietor who developed the sugar estate of Bel Ombre

Bel Ombre (Mauritius)

Bel Ombre is a coastal resort at the extreme south of Mauritius. There are holiday facilities there....

. The garden if embellished by its big banyan and almond trees. A walking path links the Telfair Garden with the locally well known "Lavoir".

Gris-Gris

Gris-Gris is well known for its sea cliff. This part of the island is not surrounded by coral reefs. Thick waves crash directly on the cliffs. The most spectacular part of Gris-gris is the "Roche Qui Pleure" where the constant squashing of waves against the flanks of the cliff gives the impression that the cliff is crying. The place is very much visited by tourists.

Batelage

Batelage is the ancient port of Souillac. The embarkment has been renovated and reconditionned to be used as a landing stage for the local fishermen's pirogues. The building next to the port which was originally used to stock sugar and other products to be embarked, has also been renovated. It is now used as the Village hall for the Village Council. Another part of the building is used as a station for the National Coast Guard of Mauritius and the last part of the building is now a restaurant named "Le Batelage".

Rochester Falls

Rochester Falls is a waterfall on the Savanne River. It is famous for the strange rectangular form of its rocky flank.

It is localted at around 2.5 kilometers from Souillac. The falls tumble from the Savanne River from a height of about 10m (33ft) where constant erosion has fashioned the basalt rock into upright columns. Youngsters often perform dare-devil dives into the water below.

Pairing with Souillac of France

A pairing exists between the village of Souillac and the town of Souillac in France (Lot Department) since 1987. This successful pairing was initiated by Armand Maudave, an inhabitant of the village of Souillac, and the Comte de Montferrand who is himself one of the descendants of the Vicomte de Souillac. People of the two localities often meet either in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 or in Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

to share and celebrate various events. In 2007, a bust of the Vicomte de Souillac was inaugurated at the Batelage to mark the 20th anniversary of the pairing.