Port-Louis marina

Practical info

History of the marina

The town of Port-Louis, formerly known as the Blavet, was founded by virtue of its exceptional natural location. It inherited a prime strategic position alongside the duty to protect. In the Middle Ages, Port-Louis was used as a maritime outpost for 2 fluvial towns: Hennebont and Pont-Scorff.

It was not until 1618 that the town took the name ‘Fort-Louis’ and then ‘Port-Louis’ in honour of King Louis XIII, who wanted to build a fortified town in order to protect the kingdom from English, Spanish or Dutch enemies.

Port-Louis Citadel underwent several phases of construction. They began under the direction of Jacques Corbineau who built the bastions and barracks between 1616 and 1622. Then, in 1636 (the Thirty Years War), it was the turn of the fender-logs, moats, the counterscarp, the covert way and the glacis. The ramparts were built between 1648 and 1653 and surround the peninsula.

In 1654, the Duke of Meilleraye founded the Company of Madagascar, which would subsequently become the East India Company. After being established in Le Havre, the company moved to Port-Louis in 1664, a prosperous time for the town. The East India Company closed its doors in 1979.

During the revolution, Port-Louis took the name ‘Port Liberté’ and the citadel served as a prison for Chouans. The citadel's most famous prisoner must be Napoleon III, who spent a short period of time there in the early eighteenth century.

At the end of the eighteenth century, the sardine economy developed as result of the unification of the traders. Under the reign of Louis-Philippe (1830-1848), the town experienced a revival with the discovery of oil based canning methods, a technique that revived the sardine trade. Sardine and tuna fishing, the sale of fresh fish and the construction of the canning factories, stimulated the town’s redevelopment. During the twentieth century, Port-Louis faced competition due to the development of the Keroman fishing port in 1927.

After World War II, the activity at Port-Louis stagnated until the early 80s, during this period recreational sailing developed with the arrival and mooring of the first boats of this new era at the port. This activity progressed and remodelled the basin until 2010, with an extension that can now accommodate 450 boats on pontoon berths.

The marina team 

Port-Louis marina's entire team welcomes you at the harbour master's office or on the pontoons.