Saut-d'Eau

OVERVIEW

Saut-d'Eau is a commune in Haiti's Centre department named for its waterfall, about 100 feet high and the tallest in the country. An apparition of the Virgin Mary — Our Lady of Mount Carmel — was first reported here in July 1849, on a palm tree near the falls, according to the account preserved by the anthropologist Michel Laguerre. Each year from 14 to 16 July pilgrims come in great numbers to the falls for the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel; the site is sacred in both Haitian Catholic and Vodou practice, and pilgrims bathe in the falls.

HISTORY

Local tradition holds that priests later cut down the palm where the Virgin had appeared, and that illness followed them. The pilgrimage has continued through every regime since the 19th century and is one of Haiti's largest religious gatherings.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

What is recorded is a reported apparition and a living tradition of healing and grace at the falls, not a haunting. Saut-d'Eau is a place of worship. It is on this map as a documented site of reported religious apparition; members should not treat it as an investigation target and should not photograph pilgrims without consent.

VISITING

North-east of Port-au-Prince via Mirebalais. The falls are open year round; the July feast draws very large crowds.