These Hait­ian mon­u­ments date from the begin­ning of the 19th cen­tu­ry, when Haiti pro­claimed its inde­pen­dence. The Palace of Sans Souci, the build­ings at Ramiers and, in par­tic­u­lar, the Citadel serve as uni­ver­sal sym­bols of lib­er­ty, being the first mon­u­ments to be con­struct­ed by black slaves who had gained their free­dom.