Léogâne is a coastal
commune in
Ouest Department,
Haïti. It is located in the eponymous
arrondissement, the
Léogâne Arrondissement. The port town is located about West of the Haitian capital,
Port-au-Prince. Léogâne has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the
arts,
music,
literature,
cuisine, and
architecture. It also holds importance for archaeological and ancient sites such as Fort Campan, and one of the most ancient windmills in the western hemisphere is located in Baussan Léogâne. The town was at the
epicenter of the
12 January 2010 earthquake, and was catastrophically affected, with 80-90% of buildings damaged. It also had been destroyed in
an earthquake in 1770. At the time of the arrival of the Europeans in 1492, Yaguana -- modern-day Léogâne -- was the capital of
Jaragua, one of the five chiefdoms on the island of
Hispaniola. This province was the last independent holdout during the
Spanish conquest of Hispaniola until their leader Queen
Anacaona was captured and killed by the Spaniards in 1503. The
French secured legal access to one-third of the island from the Spanish crown by the
Treaty of Ryswick in 1697 and established a city in Yaguana and renamed it Léogâne. In 1803, during the
Haitian Revolution Jean-Jacques Dessalines ordered his men to burn the town to the ground to force out the last of the French colonists.