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The Mauritius Postal Museum is the
The building of today's museum was built as the
The
Mauritius Post Office
Mauritius Postal Museum
Mauritius cultural monuments website {{coord, -20.15996, 57.50163, format=dms, type:landmark_region:MU, display=title 2001 establishments in Mauritius Port Louis 1860s architecture Museums in Mauritius Buildings and structures in Mauritius Postal museums
Postal museum
A postal museum is a museum dedicated to the display of objects relating to the postal service. A subcategory of postal museums are philatelic museums, which focus on philately and postage stamps.
List of postal and philatelic museums
Afric ...
in Port Louis
Port Louis (french: Port-Louis; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Polwi or , ) is the capital city of Mauritius. It is mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's ec ...
, the capital city of Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
.
The building
The building of today's museum was built as the General Post Office
The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
between 1865 and 1870. It is located at the harbour, beside the customs building in the center of the city.
In January 1865 construction started under the supervision of surveyor general
A surveyor general is an official responsible for government surveying in a specific country or territory. Historically, this would often have been a military appointment, but it is now more likely to be a civilian post.
The following surveyor ge ...
Morrison and by 1868 three-quarters of the building was complete and it took another two years to complete the building project. The construction cost between £10,000 and £11,000 pounds and employed about 80 workers. It was officially opened in December 1870.
The building is a good example of Victorian architecture
Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...
of public colonial buildings during the reign of Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
, that are still present in such countries as, India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
and Guyana
Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
.
It was a replacement for the previous General Post Office then located in Government Street near Government House, where the post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
had been headquartered since 1847.
Since 21 December 21 1870, this became the main post office of Mauritius and in April 1877, the Central Telegraph Office also moved into the building.
The Postmaster General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official respons ...
had his residence in the building. The mail from the 33 rural post offices of the island, that were built in the 1870s and 1890s, arrived here.
In 1958, under the British Governor-general
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
Sir Robert Scott, this became a listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
enacted under Government Notice No. 614. This was preceded by a recommendation from the Ancient Monuments Board. The Mauritian National Monuments Act of 1985 confirmed the building's protected status, as did the "National Monuments of Mauritius" annex to the National Heritage Fund Act (Act No. 40) of 2003.
Museum
The postal museum
A postal museum is a museum dedicated to the display of objects relating to the postal service. A subcategory of postal museums are philatelic museums, which focus on philately and postage stamps.
List of postal and philatelic museums
Afric ...
, opened in 2001, displays exhibits on the island's postal and telecommunications history. However, the world-famous Red and Blue "Post Office" Mauritius stamps are not exhibited here, but in the nearby Blue Penny Museum
The Blue Penny Museum a museum dedicated to history and art of Mauritius, is situated at Caudan Waterfront in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. It opened in November 2001.
The museum collection includes the 1847 Blue Penny and Red Penny stam ...
.
See also
*Smithsonian National Postal Museum
The National Postal Museum, located opposite Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States, covers large portions of the Postal history of the United States and other countries. It was established through joint agreement between the United ...
References
Sources
* Mauritius Institute, Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (Hrsg.): ''National Monuments of Mauritius'', Volume 1: ''Port-Louis District.'' Éditions de l'Océan Indien, Port Louis, 1988, S. 4External links
*Mauritius Post Office
Mauritius Postal Museum
Mauritius cultural monuments website {{coord, -20.15996, 57.50163, format=dms, type:landmark_region:MU, display=title 2001 establishments in Mauritius Port Louis 1860s architecture Museums in Mauritius Buildings and structures in Mauritius Postal museums