BY ONZ CHÉRY
CAP-HAITIEN — As she stood at the foot of Sans-Souci Palace, the world-renowned fortress built by Roi Christophe 209 years ago, a nervous Nehemie Nicolas told herself to breathe. In and out. Then, she took the first step on the 209-year-old stone-paved courtyard in Milot, a northern commune about 11 miles from Cap-Haitien.
As if in slow motion, Nicolas moved toward the archway, all eyes were on her. When Nicolas, 28, reached the middle of the aisle, the sun’s rays beamed right down on her. She looked forward then toward her groom, Garvenchy. His eyes were welled with tears.
The decision to start off their marriage at the historical site had been right.
“It felt like a Cinderella story,” Nicolas, a model based in Brooklyn, said. “I felt like I’m a princess. When I thought about weddings I didn’t think about a palace.”
The nuptials of Garvenchy and Nehemie Nicolas is only one of many events that have taken place at historical sites and monuments in recent months in Haiti, specifically around Cap-Haitien, a treasure trove of sites and landmarks of Haitian history.
“The monuments are just there falling apart…. The people who don’t agree are being emotional.”EDDY LUBIN, CHARGÉ DE MISSION FOR HAITI’S NATIONAL PRESERVATION INSTITUTE (ISPAN)
Patrons are drawn to the monuments as venues out of personal fondness for what they represent or the opportunity to have one-of-a-kind celebrations. For some organizers, the hope is to showcase Haiti in a different setting — as a country filled with world-renowned sites. However, at the other end, some who see these events and occasions at the monuments strongly oppose the trend, saying many of the sites are sacred or too precious to risk damaging.
“No respect at all,” Marylin Andre commented under a video of the Nicolas’s wedding.
“This is [a] historic site; why allow weddings to be held there,” Andre added. “When it gets seriously damaged beyond repair, you all will say if only I knew!”
Experts in Haiti, meanwhile, see nothing wrong with holding events at monuments. Though officials do not know how many events have taken place at these sites, some even encourage use of the landmarks, if regulated.
“The monuments are just there falling apart,” said Eddy Lubin, chargé de mission of Haiti’s National Heritage Preservation Institute (ISPAN). “At least let’s exploit them. But it has to be regulated by ISPAN and the Ministry of Culture.”
“The people who don’t agree are being emotional,” Lubin added.
A dream wedding brought to life
The Nicolases do not regret getting married at the Sans-Souci Palace – a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site. They hope to have other memorable moments in similar sites, Garvenchy said.
“I understand where people are coming from,” Garvenchy, 31, said about the opposing comments. “But at the same time, I felt fine because I knew I was not coming from a place of disrespect, because of my love for my country and its history.”
A history buff, Garvenchy first saw Sans-Souci Palace when he was 12, after his parents parked near the site. Garvenchy remembers thinking that the 700-acre palace was ‘the biggest house I’ve ever seen.’
Indeed, Sans-Souci Palace was the home of Henri Christophe, a hero of the Haitian Revolution, in the early 1900s. The palace hosted many feasts and dances and had gardens, artificial springs, and a system of waterworks.
At age 17 or 18, Garvenchy started dreaming of getting married at Sans-Souci.
Getting ISPAN to say yes to his wedding was no easy task for him or others. At first, ISPAN officials did not reply to Garvenchy’s email, then they told him no. ISPAN finally agreed after Garvenchy’s father brought a letter to ISPAN’s main office in Port-au-Prince.
In all, from request to permission, Garvenchy waited two years for ISPAN officials to have his wedding at Sans-Souci Palace, free of charge.
Patrons must also abide by certain preservation rules. Among them, not leaving the space dirty, not putting up decorations, posters or the like on the walls, and not playing loud speakers as those could further damage the structures, ISPAN General Director Jean-Patrick Durandis said.
Getting some use out of the landmarks
Another landmark often used as a venue is Fort Saint-Joseph, particularly during Cap-Haitien’s 352nd anniversary celebration. SAKAPFET Okap, a media platform, held an event in pink, or rosier, at Fort Saint-Joseph. The monument is the second of third military installations in Cap-Haitien during the revolution.
Lubin said such uses in other countries are not uncommon. The Eiffel Tower, he said, is an example where people have gotten married.
“If they cause damage to the monument, they’re responsible and they will have to pay for it,” Durandis said. “But in general, people follow the recommendations ISPAN gave them to a tee. Sometimes they go above and beyond.”
