Former residence of the Governors, located at the rock of Dzaoudzi

Museums of France

Miscellaneous

Photo de Former residence of the Governors, located at the rock of Dzaoudzi

Crédit photo : David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Révolution/Empire

XIXe siècle

Époque contemporaine

1800

1900

2000

1845

Destruction of the Sultan's Palace

1891-1892

Construction of the current building

1953

Destructive Cyclone

1970

Occupation by the Foreign Legion

2012

Registration for Historic Monuments

2015

Final classification

Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The entire residence, with the two longères, the three cannons, the six reverbera and the ground (Box AB 83, 145 to 147): inscription by order of 5 November 2012. Ranked as Historic Monuments on March 25, 2015. Order 2015 replaces the 2012 registration order.

Key figures

Sultan Andriantsoly - Local Sovereign	Owner of the palace destroyed in 1845.
Ateliers Moisant - Metal constructor	Company that supplied the building kit.

Origin and history

The former residence of the governors, located on the rock of Dzaoudzi in Mayotte, was built at the site of the former palace of Sultan Andriantsoly, destroyed in 1845. A first model house was built in the same year, then replaced between 1891 and 1892 by a metal kit building imported from metropolis, made by the Moisant workshops, competitors of Eiffel. This three-storey rectangular building, surrounded by galleries, served first of all the colonial administrations under the authority of the governors of La Réunion or Madagascar.

In 1953, a cyclone severely damaged the structure, which was abandoned until 1970, when the Foreign Legion occupied it and carried out summary restorations. In 1998, the building, invaded by vegetation, collapsed partially. An identical renovation between 2001 and 2004 restores its original appearance. The residence, accompanied by two longères (1851 and 1857), three cannons (one of which was 1813) and six reverbera, was first listed in the Historic Monuments in 2012, and then ranked in 2015.

Today owned by the state and the department, the residence could become the heart of the future Museum of Mayotte (MuMA), dedicated to the natural and cultural heritage of Mahorais. In 2023, it was selected as the emblematic site of the Heritage Lotto. Its metal architecture, rare in the region, and colonial history make it a major symbol of Mayotte's heritage.

The site also includes remarkable elements such as cannons, witnesses to the island's historical defences, and reverbera, illustrating colonial urbanism. The traces of ancient polychromy on the doors recall the past of this place, marked by the political and administrative transformations of Mayotte, from the Sultanian period to the departmental era.

Classified for its heritage value, the residence embodies the exchanges between the metropolis and the ultramarine territories, through its prefabricated metal assembly, innovative technique for the time. Its double-flyed horse iron staircase and its periphery galleries make it a unique architectural example in the Indian Ocean.