Frederick Hendrik Museum – Vieux Grand Port Mauritius.
The Frederik Hendrik Museum, is located on the Vieux Grand Port Historic Site, the cradle of the Mauritian History.
It retraces the history of the Site through visuals and objects excavated thereat.
The ruins visible on the Site are of French origin, built on the Fort Frederik Hendrik, which was constructed by the Dutch in 1638.
FREDERICK HENDRIK MUSEUM – VIEUX GRAND PORT MAURITIUS.
The Dutch headquarters at Fort Frederick Hendrik were left abandoned after their departure in 1710 until the arrival of the French East India Company in 1722. Under the French the bay was renamed Port Bourbon, and later Port Sud-Est. Governor Decaen left the old Dutch posts in 1804 and founded a new town, Mahébourg, on the other side of the bay.
The ruins of the original Dutch fort - the oldest built structure on the island - and the French ruins - which include 'La Loge', the well-preserved living quarters of the port's commander - have been conserved as the Vieux Grand Port Historic Site. The site also houses the Frederick Hendrik Museum. This small museum, built in 1999, contains an exhibition on the Dutch period of Mauritian history and displays archaeological exhibits, including bones of the dugong (now a highly-endangered marine mammal) which were excavated in the late 1990s.