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Martello Tower at La Preneuse
The Martello Tower at La Preneuse is a historic 19th-century British coastal defensive fort located directly on La Preneuse public beach in the Black River district of western Mauritius. Built by the British Royal Engineers between 1831 and 1834, it is one of five original Martello towers constructed on the island—and one of only three surviving today. Fully restored in the 1990s as a museum, the thick stone tower features a swivel cannon mounted on its roof, a copper-lined gunpowder magazine, and underground water cisterns. The tower is renowned among locals and museum volunteers for strange nocturnal occurrences, including phantom gunner sightings, disembodied boots marching on stone stairs, and unexplained brass cannon movements.