Longwood House

Longwood House is a palace on St. Helena that served as Napoleon Bonaparte's last abode during his exile on the island of Saint Helena from December 10, 1815, until his death on May 5, 1821. Longwood "was once a farm owned by the East India Company and later granted to the Deputy Governor as a country home." In 1815, it was converted for Napoleon's usage. The British administration soon determined it was unsuitable as a residence for the former Emperor and his entourage, and built a new house for him nearby, which was never used, at the time of his death. Governor Sir Hudson Lowe requested to Lord Bathurst in February 1818 that Napoleon be relocated to Rosemary Hall, an existing residence in a more favorable area of the island, shielded from the wind and shade, as Napoleon preferred. However, following General Gourgaud's discoveries in London, Lord Bathurst decided that keeping Napoleon in Longwood, where an escape was more difficult, was a better idea. The new mansion was not completed until October 1818, three years after Napoleon's arrival on the island. The National Archives of France holds Napoleon's will, which he wrote at Longwood House.

Standing in the middle of a hill full of wildflowers, like a green prairie, Longwood House becomes even more beautiful in everyone's eyes. Not only natural beauty, but Longwood House also wears the color of the timeline, which is historical beauty. With those two beauties, Longwood House deserves to be on the list of themost beautiful historical sites in Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.

The French government still maintains Longwood House and Napoleon's original grave as historical monuments. Because of the long-term impacts of the deadly damp and termite invasion, most of Longwood House has been reconstructed. A duplicate of arsenic wallpaper has long since replaced the original.

Location: Longwood, St Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha STHL 1ZZ