Place:Saint-Denis, Réunion

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Saint-Denis (, unofficially Saint-Denis de La Réunion for disambiguation; ) is the prefecture (administrative capital) of the French overseas department and region of Réunion, in the Indian Ocean. It is located at the island's northernmost point, close to the mouth of the Rivière Saint-Denis.

Saint-Denis is the most populous commune in the French overseas departments and the nineteenth most populous in all of France. At the 2019 census, there were 314,880 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Saint-Denis (as defined by INSEE),^[1] 153,810 of whom lived in the city (commune) of Saint-Denis proper and the remainder in the neighbouring communes of La Possession, Sainte-Marie, Sainte-Suzanne, Saint-André, and Bras-Panon.

History

• 1669 : Saint-Denis, then named île Bourbon, is founded by the first governor of the island, Etienne Regnault.

18th Century

• 1738 : Saint-Denis becomes the administrative capital of the island instead of Saint-Paul, under governor Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais. The city is home to 2,166 inhabitants.
• 1766 : The royal decree of 17 August divides the island into five quadrants including that of Saint-Denis.
• 1777 : The checkerboard map of the city is established by Chevalier Banks.
• 1790 : Saint-Denis becomes an incorporated town. Jean Baptiste Delestrac is its first mayor

19th Century

• 8 July 1810 : Having come ashore the day before at la Grand Chaloupe, the British take the town, leading to the surrender of the island, then named Bonaparte.
• 1855 : Opening of the Muséum d'histoire naturelle.
• 21 April 1860 : Inauguration of the new City Hall whose construction had been started in 1846.
• 1868 : Riots and state of siee in the city for six months.
• 1874 : Construction of a bridge over Le Barachois. This bridge will become the favorite spot for pleasure walks in the city.
• 11 February 1882 : Completion of a railway line between Saint-Denis and [Wikipedia:Saint-Benoît, Réunion Saint-Benoît].

20th Century

• 28 November 1905 : Inauguration of the Noor-e-Islam mosk.
• 1910 : The Lycée de la Réunion, currently Lycée Leconte de Lisle, burns down.
• 1911 : Opening of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, currently Musée Léon Dierx.
• 5 March 1976 : The new Route du Littoral] (shoreline road) is completed. It joins Saint-Denis to La Possession.
• 1979 : Inauguration of a new City Hall.
• 1983 : Saint-Denis has 109 072 inhabitants.
• 1991 : Riots of Le Chaudron.

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