Christophe ordered the Palace of Sans Souci to be built near the Citadell, in the style of Frederick II of Prussia.
In 1820, at the foot of the Palace stairs, near the church,
the eccentric king ended his own life by shooting himself with a golden bullet fired from his silver revolver.
He had repressed his subjects to such a degree, that they rose up against him and forced him to commit suicide.
A simple monument brings him together with the other Fathers of the Nation at the top of a hill near Cape Haitien.
The voodoo phenomenon was born during this period of struggle
in spite of the colonial authorities and the repression of the Church.
The African Gods that travelled in the slaves´ minds had intermingled with the Catholic doctrine of the settlers.
A new religion had been born.
With the flags that represented the different tribes of their ancestors,
the lakús or voodoo monasteries are spread over all the country.
They are normally located in places where the slaves that had run away from the plantations
hid to pray.
Voodoo is a religion that is very closely linked with nature
and many of its deities dwell in rivers, valleys and mountains.
There are many natural settings which are real sanctuaries.
The faithful retreat to these places to meditate and meet their luas, or family spirits,
and the principle forces of the Universe.
These are spiritual observatories that enable them to communicate with the Great Beyond.
Voodoo determines and presides over Haitian society,
it is always present in a world where everything that happens,
be it good or bad, is attributed to the direct intervention of the spirits.
Limonat beach is a place of pilgrimage.
Preachers from the most distant parts of the country come here to perform Guiné ceremonies
and beseech the favour of Erzuli,
mother Earth, the Goddess of Love, who is identified in syncretism with the Virgin Mary.
In the shade of the sacred trees, families take turns to perform their ceremonies.
They mainly offer food and rum and wait for Erzuli to appear, for her to take possession of someone's body.
In this case, the woman with the red scarf.
Erzuli likes to flirt, and seduces people without distinguishing between sexes.
She may enter the body of a man or of a woman,
but everybody will immediately recognise her because of her suggestive movements.
Each preacher recognises different beings in this possession.
Its syncretic translation would be the Virgin of High Grace,
the Black Virgin or the Virgin of Monte Carmelo and sometimes St Philomena,
identified in voodoo with a siren who comes out of the sea or of fresh water.
Other participants also go into deep trances.
People help them and respect them, as in these moments their souls are outside their bodies.
The luas or spirits have taken over their bodies in order to express their wishes.
During these possessions, there are frequent displays of the protection conferred on them by the influence of the deity that dwells inside them.
Each lua has different colours, so different coloured scarves are used to call them.
White kaolin powder is also used to attract certain deities and to identify them.
Erzuli has just recognised one of her followers by the rings that adorn his hands.
These are wedding rings that show that the man has married her.
Each person may marry his protective lua.
They gather their relations and witnesses together and go to the OUNFO or voodoo temple,
where a mystic wedding is held.
From this moment on, the earthly spouse will have to abstain from sexual intercourse on certain days specified by his lua.
For example, Erzuli prescribes Tuesdays and Thursdays,
and on these days she may come before her servants in her dreams.
Here in Limonat voodoo lives alongside the Church.
The devotees alternate their religious customs without any problems.
From the olden days, when the settlers prohibited their African religious services,
the slaves were forced to praise their Gods whilst kneeling before a Catholic icon.
In this way syncretism arose and the majority of the lua have their corresponding Christian deity or saint.