The Haiti National Palace, or Presidential Palace, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti has been built and destroyed several times over the past 140 years. The original building was demolished in 1869 during a revolution. A new Palace was built but destroyed in 1912 by an explosion that also killed Haitian president Cincinnatus Leconte and several hundred soldiers. The most recent Presidential Palace, shown above, was constructed in 1918.
In many ways, Haiti's Palace resembles America's presidential home, the White House. Although Haiti's Palace was constructed a century later than the White House, both buildings were influenced by similar architectural trends.
The Presidential Palace architect George Baussan was a Haitian who had studied Beaux Arts architecture at the the Ecole d'Architecture in Paris. Baussan's design for the Palace incorporated Beaux Arts, Neoclassical, and French Renaissance Revival ideas.
Features of the Haiti National Palace:
- Symmetrical shape
- Domed roof
- Cupuloa
- Dormers
- Ionic columns
- Triangular pediment with ornamental details
- Balustrades
- Balconies
