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46-520: The city is known for its well-preserved Gingerbread houses built in the early 19th century. The town has been tentatively accepted as a World Heritage Site . It sustained damage in the 2010 Haiti earthquake . Jacmel is home to the country's leading film school, the Ciné Institute . The town was founded by the Compagnie de Saint-Domingue in 1698 as the capital of the southeastern part of

92-618: A cafe. Many teak gingerbread houses in the northern provinces, especially in Chiang Rai , Chiang Mai, and Phayao , have been destroyed throughout the years as the owners demolished them to sell the wood due to high demand of second-hand teak wood since 1989. To combat this issue, the Phrae Architectural Heritage Club has engaged the communities in Phrae to preserve their gingerbread houses and turned them into

138-453: A cross-breeze of louvered shutter windows on all sides instead of glass to offset the most scorching of days, flexible timber frames with the innate ability to weather some of the toughest storms and tremors , and built with wrap-around verandas . The houses are usually constructed of wood, masonry , or stone and clay. This specific architectural heritage in Haiti is now threatened as

184-543: A fire in Cape May, New Jersey , destroyed 30 blocks of properties of the seaside town. The town rebuilt quickly. Many were rebuilt with much gingerbread trim and many gables and turrets . This resulted in a high concentration of late 19th century buildings in the town. According to the National Register of Historic Places , "Cape May has one of the largest collections of late 19th century frame buildings left in

230-674: A model for seismic-resistant structures for the future. The gingerbread neighborhood of Haiti was listed as one of twenty-five sites on the 2020 World Monuments Watch . During the European colonisation of Southeast Asia in the 19th century, wood was in high demand. The British timber industry started logging in India for teak , a tropical hardwood native to south and southeast Asia . The teak logging industry then expanded from India to Burma following British rule in Burma . Although Thailand

276-538: A short interval in Jacmel in 1870, from where he gathered support for an uprising in the Dominican Republic, seeking to install a liberal government there. Then-president of Haiti, Nissage Saget supported Betances's ideals of a pan-Antillean union and gave the uprising his support. The port town is internationally known for its very vibrant art scene and elegant townhouses dating from the 19th century. Among

322-560: A variety of ornamental parts had helped builders to transform simple cottages into unique houses. At the time, standard sized gingerbread elements were manufactured at low cost in the American East Coast . Not everyone approved of this architectural style. Andrew Jackson Downing , a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival criticized this style in his Architecture of Country Houses in 1852. He classified homes in

368-580: Is an architectural style that consists of elaborately detailed embellishment known as gingerbread trim . It is more specifically used to describe the detailed decorative work of American designers in the late 1860s and 1870s, which was associated mostly to the Carpenter Gothic style. It was loosely based on the Picturesque period of English architecture in the 1830s. During the 1830s and 1840s, American home builders started interpreting

414-412: Is famous for its carnival which is a month long celebration culminating the week before the national Haitian carnival. The carnival of Jacmel is notable for particular costumes and masks which blends everything from Haitian folklore legends and historical figures from the country's past to sports celebrities and political caricatures. The Port of Jacmel ( HTJAK ) is a small, relatively shallow port and

460-526: Is unable to harbour large ships. There is also a pleasurecraft dock as part of the port, which survived the quake. It is run by the Autorité Portuaire Nationale . Also located in Jacmel is a small airstrip ( MTJA ) capable of handling small to medium-sized planes. The airstrip is unable to handle large aircraft. Jacmel has two hospitals, Hôpital Saint-Michel and the "Complexe Médico Chirurgical Rose Marie Paul" recently founded by

506-565: The 2010 earthquake, people in Haiti considered rebuilding their homes in gingerbread style due to its resilience to earthquakes. It shifted the tone for the style to be more positive in local communities. The gingerbread house by design combines architectural knowledge that stemmed abroad, into an understanding of the Caribbean climate and its living conditions. They were constructed with tall doors, high ceilings, with steep turret roofs to redirect hot air above its inhabitable rooms, along with

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552-568: The American adaptation as "extravagant and bizarre". The style was later combined with Italianate and Second Empire elements to create the "San Francisco Style". Residential buildings of wealthy individuals in Haiti during the Gingerbread era, between the 1880s and the 1920s, had a unique architecture that combined the local traditions and adaptation of foreign influences. The adaptation

598-588: The Capponi Group, formed the Jacmel Advisory Council to help revitalize Jacmel, while preserving its arts, culture and traditions. The board promotes best practices to provide a socio-economic system for thousands of Haitians living in the southeast region. Capponi Group Haiti is also restoring a 200-year-old coffee-sorting house at the port of Jacmel. The project hopes to again make Jacmel a commercial and tourist center. The city of Jacmel

644-475: The European Gothic Revival architecture , which had elaborate masonry details, in wood to decorate American timber frame homes. This was also known as Carpenter Gothic . The early designs started with simple stickwork such as vertical sawtooth siding. By the middle of the 19th century, with the invention of the steam-powered scroll saw , the mass production of thin boards that were cut into

690-531: The French colony Saint-Domingue . The area now called Jacmel was Taíno territory, part of the Xaragua chiefdom ruled by cacique Bohechio. With the arrival of the French, and the later establishment of the town, the French renamed Yaquimel as Jacmel. The city was developed to boost sugar production and trade, but soon it evolved into a coffee trading centre. In 1896 it suffered a major fire that destroyed most of

736-467: The Gran Colombian flag served as the model for the current flags of Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, which emerged as independent nations at the breakup of Gran Colombia in 1830. This flag is often referred to as the "bandera madre" (mother flag) due to its role as inspiration and resemblance to the flags of Colombia and Ecuador. Puerto Rican pro-independence leader Ramón Emeterio Betances spent

782-532: The Thai government or temples are preserved in good condition. However, many private homes are at risk of destruction by the elements due to high costs of maintenance of intricate fretwork. Another approach to preservation is to repurpose the buildings. Some private homes have been preserved and given a new life as museums. A deserted gingerbread house, a former private residence in Bangkok, was restored and turned into

828-585: The United States into three types: villas for the wealthy, cottages for working people and farmhouses for farmers. He argued that the lower-cost cottages which were small in size and had simplistic style should not be ornamented with the elaborate embellishment of a villa. He further argued that the vergeboard of the Rural Gothic gable should have been carefully carved in thick and solid plank to appreciate its beauty instead of an ornamental part which

874-827: The United States. It contains over 600 summer houses, old hotels, and commercial structures that give it a homogeneous architectural character, a kind of textbook of vernacular American building." In the 1880s, many houses in California adopted the Eastlake style, which was named after Charles Eastlake a British architect and furniture designer. Eastlake published a book that contained illustrations of interior designs of incised wood panels and knobs to complement his furniture designs. American home builders expanded that to home exteriors by replacing flat-cut gingerbread ornamental elements with lathe-turned spindlework for balusters and wall surface decoration. However, Eastlake criticized

920-425: The buildings in the city. The city was rebuilt, often using prefabricated cast-iron pillars and balconies shipped from France . Many ornate mansions of wealthy coffee merchants from this time have been preserved up to this day without much change and the whole central part of the city has changed little over the last 100 years. The mansions of Jacmel, with their cast-iron pillars and balconies , would later influence

966-410: The city at 4:40 pm, but the later tremor at 5:37 pm stopped the cathedral's clock. A Jacmel radio station estimated that at least 5000 were dead from the quake itself, although mayor Edwin 'Edo' Zenny in later reported that the figure was closer to 300–500 deaths and 4,000 injured. About 70 per cent of the homes were damaged, with most of the heavier damage being in the poorer neighbourhoods. The town hall

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1012-677: The craftsmanship. Eventually, the popularity of gingerbread houses in Thailand faded away due to high construction and maintenance costs. Today, the remaining gingerbread houses in Thailand can be seen in various locations in Bangkok, Nakhon Pathom , Phrae, Lampang and Chanthaburi . Gingerbread houses in the northern provinces of Thailand combined the Lan Na arts and crafts and Victorian-era architecture. Additionally, commercial buildings owned by Chinese settlers and Burmese logging workers incorporated elaborate gingerbread decoration as part of

1058-405: The fretwork locally, but some of the gingerbread trim was made in Bangkok and shipped to construction sites. A unique character of gingerbread houses in Thailand, to adapt to warmer climate, was the use of gingerbread-style fretwork to create air passages and install them near the floor or under the roof to allow air to flow throughout the house. Many of the gingerbread houses that are owned by

1104-535: The gingerbread decorations in hoping other cities would heed the warning. Still, the style continued to spread to the West. By the late 1870s, San Francisco had many gingerbread houses at a similar level of Chicago five or ten years earlier. In Ontario, Canada , a house style in the area called Ontario Cottage had been evolving since the 1830s. In the third quarter of the 19th century, the builders incorporated gingerbread elements to large houses. A prominent character

1150-470: The gingerbread trim used in the houses in Bangkok and the northern provinces. The principal design elements of Victorian Gothic such as quatrefoil , cross, and flame were used as an inspiration and several gingerbread patterns were developed locally. Popular patterns included, tulips, vines, geometric shapes, mosquito larvae , fruits and vegetables. The fretworks were made by using both perforated and carved woods. Most artisans were local and Chinese that made

1196-438: The homes in much of New Orleans . Today, many of these homes are now artisan shops that sell vibrant handicrafts, papier-mâché masks, and carved-wood animal figures. In recent years, efforts have been made to revitalize the once flourishing cigar and coffee industries. The town is a popular tourist destination in Haiti due to its relative tranquility and distance from the political turmoil that plagues Port-au-Prince . Over

1242-615: The liberation struggle against colonialism in Venezuelan and much of Spanish-ruled South America, Francisco de Miranda created the first flag of Gran Colombia near Jacmel, which served as the national flag of the First Republic of Venezuela . Anchored in the Bay of Jacmel ( Baie de Jacmel ), he first raised the flag on March 12, 1806, on the corvette Leander . This day is still celebrated as Venezuelan Flag Day. The general design of

1288-470: The maternity ward; however, the hospital continues to operate. The radiology department was the only undamaged portion of the hospital. Jacmel had a civil court building, which was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. The town's main square is Place Toussaint Louverture , named after the Haitian revolutionary leader. Jacmel has cooperative agreements with: Gingerbread (architecture) Gingerbread

1334-619: The middle class families in Port-au-Prince neighborhoods incorporated parts of the styles into their modest sized houses. Gingerbread was coined by American tourists in the 1950s, who appreciated the style which bore similarity to that of the Victorian -era buildings with gingerbread trim in the United States . Prior to 2010, the style had bad connotations due to its associations with colonialism and elitism . After

1380-539: The nascent architectural movement, and modified the style to the climate in Haiti by designing homes with vibrant patterns and flamboyant colors of French resort architecture. Many large houses in upscale neighborhoods of Pacot, Turgeau, and Bois-Verna in Port-au-Prince were built in this style. A notable example of those is Villa Miramar (also known as Villa Cordasco) in Pacot, built in 1914. The style then spread to

1426-536: The natural aging of the wood, the weather, the high cost of restoration and repairs are all detrimental to the survival of this style. The style was listed on the 2010 World Monuments Watch . The listing was just before the 2010 earthquake that struck Haiti. Surprisingly, only five percent of the estimated 200 gingerbread houses were partially or fully collapsed, in contrast to about 300,000 collapsed buildings which were 40% of all other structures. This left U.S. conservation experts to believe that this architecture can be

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1472-414: The philanthropist Dr. Leon Paul, and becomes the highest equipped surgery center in the city, with highly qualified international and national professionals. The "Hôpital Saint-Michel" which locals had nicknamed "the morgue" prior to the earthquake. The hospital is the largest hospital or health centre in the region. It has a staff of six doctors and ten nurses. The quake half-collapsed the hospital, including

1518-408: The rest of the country including Saint-Marc , Jérémie , Les Cayes , Petit-Goâve , and Léogâne until 1925. After 1925, new construction materials became available including concrete, and a new regulation that mandated masonry, reinforced concrete, or iron structures for fire prevention. That caused the architectural styles in Haiti to shift away from the gingerbread style. However, after 1946,

1564-634: The scenic white sand (Timouillage, Cabic, Raymond-les-bains, located primarily in Cayes-Jacmel) beaches attract many visitors. The town is regarded as one of the safest in the country, and foreign visitors that come to Haiti seeking tranquility often go for Jacmel. Its urbanization has been increasing in large part due to the income generated by tourism. Royal Caribbean, the leading tourism company whose cruise ships regularly dock at Labadee , plans to add stopovers at Jacmel. In February 2007, Edwin Zenny became

1610-627: The so-called War of Knives between him and his fellow countryman André Rigaud , who wished to maintain authority over the city. This war began in June 1799. By November the rebels were pushed back to this strategic southern port, the defence of which was commanded by Alexandre Pétion . Jacmel fell to Toussaint's troops in February 1800. Pétion and other mulatto leaders subsequently went into exile in France. A Venezuelan predecessor of Simón Bolívar in

1656-421: The style began in 1881 with the second Haitian National Palace during the presidency of Lysius Salomon . This was followed by the construction of a private villa, now known as Hotel Oloffson , commissioned by President Tirésias Simon Sam 's son in 1887. In 1895, three young Haitians— Georges Baussan , Léon Mathon, and Joseph-Eugène Maximilien—traveled to Paris to study architecture, were inspired to build upon

1702-497: The town's newly elected mayor. The current mayor is Marky Kessa. In addition, the Jacmel Film Festival is held there annually. On January 11, 2010, Choice Hotels announced they would open a 120-room Comfort Inn in Jacmel, the first chain hotel to be opened there in a decade. On 12 January 2010, Haiti experienced a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that caused heavy damage and casualties in Jacmel. The first tremor rocked

1748-531: The unique half-wood half-concrete structure called Saranai (or Salanai). These buildings are terraced houses with folding front doors on the first floor that can be fully opened to use as a storefront. The eaves , air passages above the doors, and ornate balustrades are decorated with intricately carved wood panels in different styles including Burmese style. These commercial buildings can be seen in Chiang Mai and Lampang. There were no specific patterns on

1794-565: The wealth of art and crafts available in Jacmel are the papier-mâché, done by nearly 200 artisans and the renowned Atelier created by Moro Baruk. In recent years Jacmel has been host to a large film festival, called the Jacmel Film Festival , that started in 2004, and in 2007 the international Jacmel Music Festival was successfully launched as well. Its carnival, the nearby Bassin Bleu (Haiti's most famous natural deep pools), and

1840-486: The years, this rather small town experienced a number of noted historical events. Some of these occurrences are: In 1791 and 1792, Romaine-la-Prophétesse led thirteen thousand rebels in besieging, occupying, and later burning Jacmel, and taking weapons and supplies from (and then burning) surrounding plantations from Marigot , about 25 kilometers east of Jacmel, to Bainet , about 45 kilometers west of it, freeing their slaves . Toussaint Louverture fought over Jacmel in

1886-493: Was "sawn out of thin board, so as to have a frippery and 'gingerbread' look which degrades, rather than elevates, the beauty of the cottage." The style lived on and flourished in the residential areas of Chicago in the 1860s. That didn't last very long as the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 destroyed many of those buildings. Some attributed a cause of the fire to be worsened due to the cheap construction materials and

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1932-441: Was blended with Asian architectural elements such as perforated wood panels to create a style known locally as Lanna Colonial . During that period, American style gingerbread houses with decorative wooden fretwork became popular. The style caught on in some British colonies including Singapore and Burma, and then spread to Thailand. Thais of high social standing in the era of King Rama V built teak gingerbread houses to showcase

1978-483: Was influenced by many factors including manuals of styles that were circulated from Europe and North America, Haitian architects who studied abroad, and French artisans who set up woodworking shops to train Haitian artisans. Those Gingerbread houses were highly decorative with fretworks , latticeworks with patterns that are unique to Haiti. The structures of this style typically have large windows and doors, tall ceilings, large attics, and deep porches. The movement of

2024-421: Was not a colony, Britain still wanted to expand its teak logging to Thailand. In 1883, Britain won logging a concession agreement with a local ruler in the northern provinces, making Phrae the center of British teak logging in Thailand. The British companies and rulers in northern Thailand built their teak gingerbread houses based on the styles from Britain. The Western architectural style with gingerbread trim

2070-525: Was so severely damaged that it had to be demolished. A small tsunami hit Jacmel Bay, with the ocean receding, leaving fish high and dry on the seabed, and rushing back in, four times. In December 2010, the Capponi Construction Group , a Miami-based construction company, decided to help with the revitalization of Jacmel. This initiative was created to help stimulate a self-sustaining tourism economy for Haiti. Michael Capponi, founder of

2116-399: Was to use ornamental bargeboard and finials to decorate the gables . As railways were expanded into cities such as Stratford , more Ontario cottages and houses were built. They were typically one and a half story to one and three-quarter story brick homes with gingerbread wood trim on gables and the front facade. This type of house became prominent from the 1870s to the 1890s. In 1878,

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