Sans-Souci

The Carefree Palace Of A Make-Believe Monarch

The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) had left Haiti independent from its old colonial master, France which had only recently felt the convulsions of civil insurgency itself. Yet it also left the country divided in to north and south.
In the north, a remarkable yet despotic man came to be known as Henry I, King of Haiti and held sway for a number of years. He decreed that a palace be constructed to be the centerpiece of his power. Sans-Souci (meaning carefree), as it was named, was to be his Versailles.