Aapravasi Ghat, Immigration depot in Port Louis, Mauritius

Aapravasi Ghat is a preserved immigration depot at the harbor in Port Louis, Mauritius, which served as the arrival point for thousands of laborers. The site includes stone structures along the waterfront, among them administrative rooms and waiting areas accessible from the original jetty.

The complex opened in 1849 as the central receiving point for Indian indentured laborers under British colonial rule. Over seven decades, people from various parts of India passed through here before being distributed to sugar plantations across Mauritius.

The name Aapravasi Ghat, adopted in 1987, is a Hindi translation of "Immigration Depot": aapravasi means immigrant and ghat means interface, referring to the steps between land and sea. An older name, Coolie Ghat, referred to the labourers known as coolies. In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, from where most labourers came, ghat denotes a river bank used for docking boats.

Only about 15 percent of the 1849 complex survives, so the visit is short: the entrance gateway, part of the hospital block, remnants of the immigration sheds and the service quarters. The site lies on the east side of Trou Fanfaron bay, now inland because of land reclamation; the Caudan Waterfront marina is beyond it. The Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund manages the site and works to restore the stone buildings to their 1860s state.

The name Aapravasi Ghat was adopted in 1987, replacing the older 'Coolie Ghat'; it is a Hindi translation of 'Immigration Depot', where aapravasi means immigrant and ghat means interface. The site is one of two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mauritius, listed in 2006 alongside Le Morne Brabant.