ROSE HALL GREATHOUSE

It's hard to miss this temple of Jamaican tourism! Its name is inscribed in white stones on the sides of the hill at the top of which sits the most majestic greathouse in the country. Many cultural events (concerts, ballets) find there a stage and a decor worthy of the most prestigious shows. Topped by a grey tiled roof with a severe and almost austere architecture, a multitude of small windows brighten up the façade and give it the air of a respectable English residence. The gardens surrounding the house are discreetly flowered. Built in 1760 by John Palmer, a wealthy colonial planter for the British Crown, this massive Georgian mansion was named after Palmer's wife, Rose. It was destroyed during the slave uprising of December 1831. Abandoned to its fate for over a century, it was to be reborn from its ruins after its purchase in 1966. It was restored by John Rollins, a former governor of the State of Delaware, who, having made his fortune in real estate, devoted a great deal of time and energy to it. Neither the decoration nor the furniture are original, but everything has been reconstructed. The richly furnished rooms bear witness to the opulent life of the planters of the time. Reception rooms, ballrooms, bedrooms, reading room, music room... Nothing was too beautiful - or too expensive - to reproduce a bit of that Old England-scented life left behind.

The White Witch of Rose Hall. Legend has it that she has haunted the house since the 19th century! When Anne May Patterson married John Rose Palmer, the grand-nephew of the founder and heir to the property, she was still a very young girl. Half English, half Irish, Annie had been raised in Haiti, the neighboring island. Her nanny, who came from Africa with the slave traders, had initiated her into the rites of voodoo. Annie is an authoritarian young woman with insatiable sexual appetites. Without a doubt, her first husband does not live up to her expectations because, without further ado, she skillfully poisons him without leaving any trace. Very quickly remarried, Annie finds a husband who is hardly more satisfactory than her first. She stabs him savagely. Many male slaves of the plantation will know a fatal destiny after having honored the bed of their mistress. Still dissatisfied, despite the services rendered by the slaves, Annie again convenes. This time, she chose to strangle her third husband. Revolted slaves eventually got rid of the lady. But, since then, Annie's ghost, not giving rest to her tortured soul, haunts the places of her crimes. During a seance in 1978, Annie herself led the spiritualist to the discovery of a voodoo doll! The affair made the tour of the island.

Such is the legend to which Jamaicans are attached and which will be told to you without laughing by the young girls in madras dresses who guide the visit. The truth is probably much less dramatic, since Anne Palmer died in 1846 after many years of a peaceful marriage with John Palmer. The legend has its origins in a fantastic novel written in 1929 by H.-G. de Lisser and in the fact that Rose Palmer, the first owner of the house, actually had four husbands. To test: the visit by night, more fun! On site: bar and souvenir store.