The Citadelle Laferrière or, Citadelle Henri Christophe, or simply the Citadelle (English: Citadel), is a large early 19th-century fortress situated on the Bonnet à l’Evêque mountaintop in Nord, Haiti.^[1] The imposing structure is located approximately 27 kilometres (17 mi) south of the city of Cap-Haïtien, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) southwest of the Three Bays Protected Area, and 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) uphill from the town of Milot. Commissioned by Haitian revolutionary Henri Christophe, and built by tens of thousands of former slaves,^[2] the Citadelle was the linchpin of the newly independent Haiti’s defensive strategy against potential French incursion.^[3]

Including several smaller forts across the country, the stronghold remains the only African-derived military fortification in the New World as well as the first example of African-derived colonial architecture; which it shares with Sans-Souci Palace, also commissioned by Christophe. Designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1982—along with the aforementioned Sans-Souci, the fortress is universally regarded as an icon of the Caribbean nation.^[4]