Parc de Martissant

The Centre is also where you’ll find guides willing to show you around Parc de Martissant’s extensive garden of medicinal plants. The tour is very detailed, and guides are always more than happy to answer questions, but visitors are free to walk around and observe by themselves if they prefer.

Depending on the time of year, some of the plants are blossoming or yielding fruit. The medicinal plant garden sits adjacent to a community produce garden, whose bounty is gathered whenever it is ripe and made available to the local community.

The third major installation of Parc de Martissant is the January 12 2010 Memorial. It was built on the former residence of Haitian architect Albert Mangonès – the sculptor behind the Marron inconnu or Nèg mawon statue at Champ-de-Mars.

Erected in 2012, the memorial is a symbolic resting place for the souls of those who passed away during the 2010 earthquake. Residents of Martissant planted ylang ylang trees on the perimeter of the memorial and every afternoon the trees’ scent is released throughout the area at a similar time to that of the deadly earthquake in 2010.

The memorial also features a permanent art installation by Haitian artist Pascale Monnin. Skulls made from iron and cement covered in mirror shards hang from a giant tree, twisting and swinging in the wind. Monnin shaped and crafted these skulls based on the faces of residents of Martissant. From the early hours of morning into the late afternoon, they catch and reflect the Caribbean sunlight.