Pyramids of Plaine Magnien

In the southeastern corner of Mauritius, a stone’s throw from the country’s primary airport and its oldest city, Mahebourg, seven mysterious basalt pyramids, around 20 meters tall, rise from fields of sugarcane. Visitors to the island are unlikely to miss them as they take the M2 highway up to Port Louis.

Despite their proximity and accessibility, few ever stop to explore the pyramids. Fewer still have written about them. This has, naturally, led to speculation online as to their origins. A quick online search for the Pyramids of Plaine Magnien yields several articles claiming them to be proof of an ancient civilization, possibly a highly advanced globe-spanning one, due to the similarity of these Mauritian pyramids to several structures found on Tenerife, Spain. Others have posited these structures to be evidence of the lost Indian Ocean continent of Kumari Kandam.

The truth is, of course, much more down to earth. Mauritius, a volcanic tropical island, is perfectly suited to grow sugarcane, and to this day sugar is the country’s primary export as a result. But the explosive geological history of the island also makes for some rough and rocky terrain. In an effort to clear enough land to actually farm on an industrial scale at Plaine Magnien, laborers in the 1930s through to the 1960s cleared rocks and boulders, often by hand, and—humans being humans—decided to stack them up in an aesthetically pleasing manner.

In later years, increased industrialiation in Mauritius meant that fields could be cleared with machinery, and several rock-crushing plants around the island meant the need for stacking stones into square steeples was no longer necessary. Some sources indicate that at least 20 pyramids once existed, but most were taken apart before the remaining seven were declared a national heritage site.

The fields around the last of the Pyramids of Plaine Magnien are still part of a sugarcane plantation, though no barriers to public entry exist. The vicinity has also become a dumping ground for wrecked vehicles and old appliances, making for a surreal experience on a quiet day. Perhaps in a century’s time future conspiracy theorists will speculate about the pyramid of cars at Plaine Magnien.