Port-au-Prince is Haiti's capital and by far its largest city, with well over two million people in the metropolitan area. Despite its size, much of it feels like an overgrown market town — low-slung buildings climbing steep hillsides, tap-taps threading through traffic, street vendors on every corner.
The city has always been divided between the crowded lower city near the waterfront and the cooler residential areas of Pétion-Ville and the hills above, where middle-class and wealthier Haitians live. This geography has become sharper since 2021: gang territories have consumed large swaths of the lower city, and movement between neighborhoods requires local knowledge and current information.
Before the current crisis, Port-au-Prince had genuine attractions: the Iron Market (Marché de Fer), rebuilt after the 2010 earthquake; the Musée du Panthéon National (MUPANAH) on the Champs de Mars; the art galleries of Pétion-Ville; and the Cathedral of Our Lady, its collapsed nave left as a memorial to earthquake victims. The food in the city's restaurants — particularly the better Pétion-Ville spots — was excellent.
The 2010 earthquake killed an estimated 200,000 people and flattened large parts of the city. Reconstruction was uneven and incomplete. The infamous Fort Dimanche — the Duvalier-era political prison where thousands perished — and the haunting sculpture collective Atis Rezistans speak to different chapters of the city's difficult history. Port-au-Prince will need peace, and time, before it can welcome travelers again.