Saint-Denis (Réunion)

Saint-Denis (créole: Sin-Dni) is the capital of Réunion, and the city with the most inhabitants on the island. It hosts all the important administrative offices, and is also a cultural centre with numerous museums. Saint-Denis is also the largest city in all of the French overseas departments.

Understand


Saint-Denis is the prefecture (administrative seat) of the French island of Réunion. The island lies between Mauritius and Madagascar and has the status of a French Overseas Department and is officially an administrative division of France. The General Council and Regional Council, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chamber of Trades and Craft Industry, the rectorate, the state university, the employment office, and the customs authority are to be found in the commune of Saint-Denis.

Saint-Denis was named in 1669 by Étienne Régnault, who later became governor of Réunion from 1665 to 1671. The settlement was named after the ship "Saint-Denis", which in 1664, as part of a fleet sailing under the flag of the French India Company, was sent to Réunion Island and then on to India. Governor Régnault arrived with the fleet from France, and established a resupply outpost on the coast at Saint-Paul, the first capital of the island.

The small 60-ton ship "Saint-Denis", which had been separated from the fleet at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, still managed to find its own way to the island, arriving in 1667. The captain of the ship, named Chanlette, was a good friend of Régnault, so the bay, the harbor, and later the city, were named "Saint-Denis" in honor of return of the lost ship. The ship was, in turn, named after Saint Denis, a third century bishop and missionary to Gaul, who was martyred with his companions Rusticus and Elentère in what would become modern-day France.

Under Mahé de Labourdonnais, then Governor of the East India Company and an important figure in the history of the island, the town of Saint-Denis replaced the former capital of Saint-Paul due to the general quality and favorable location of its harbor. Though the small settlement had just 2166 inhabitants, it had become the capital of the island and seat of the colonial government of the whole of the Mascarene islands.

In the year 1743, the first church and the new governor's palace (the modern Prefecture) were built. In 1771, a formal plan for the city was instituted. This followed the typical colonial grid pattern, with 12 streets in the east-west direction and 7 running north-south.



The administrative headquarters and warehouse of the French East India Company was established in 1773. It was built in the typical French colonial vernacular style and was later the official residence of the Governor and Prefect. In 1790, Saint Denis was incorporated as a commune, and Jean Baptiste Delestrac became its first mayor.

Saint-Denis remained only a small town, trailing behind Saint-Paul in population and Saint-Pierre in economic power. At the turn the 19th century, the city was little more than a boring bureaucratic backwater, where the most exciting activity was still taking a walk. By mid-century, however, sugar barons had begun pouring money into the local economy, and Saint-Denis blossomed into an important cultural and commercial center. In 1852, both the colonial bank and the natural history museum were founded in the city.

By the 20th century, political and economic life on the island had become directly tied to the fortunes of the capital: two world wars, malaria epidemics, and increasing cultivation of the sugar beet in Europe all lead to an economic recession in the city and on the island in general, from which it has emerged with subsidies from Paris and the European Union.

The primary ethnic groups of the city are European immigrants, former slaves, Chinese and Muslim Indian immigrants and their descendants, and créoles. The demographics are highly mixed, and ghettos of any particular ethnicity do not exist.

Well-known people from Saint-Denis include French aviation pioneer Roland Garros (1886 – 1918), the writer Marius Leblond (1877 – 1953), French politician Raymond Barre (1924 – 2007), and handballer Daniel Narcisse (1979-).

Local information

 * Saint-Denis city government website

By plane
The international airport for Réunion is Roland Garros.

The airport has a shuttle bus service that takes passengers directly to the main bus station, L'Ocean Terminal, in central Saint-Denis. Travel time is roughly 20 minutes.

Visitors can also travel by (expensive) taxi service or by renting a car from one of the several providers serving the airport.

There is another airport on Réunion, Pierrefonds Airport, near Saint-Pierre in the south of the island, offering flights to regional destinations in Mauritius and Madagascar.

By car

 * The Route du Littoral, RN1, opened in 1976, connecting Saint Denis to the southwest of the island along the steep north coast. The route is subject to frequent rock slides, and remains hazardous, despite the protective barriers and safety nets.
 * Route RN2 runs from Saint-Denis along the east coast of Réunion.

By bus
The city of Saint-Denis is the terminus for several bus routes.


 * Route A, A1 (Express), and B: Saint-Denis - Saint-Paul - Saint-Gilles-Les-Bains - Saint-Leu - Saint-Louis - Saint-Pierre. Follows RN1 along the west coast. Approximately 90 minutes, €4.20.
 * Route B1, C1, and E: Similar to route A on the west coast, but terminating instead at Saint-Leu.
 * Route F (Express) and G: Saint-Denis - Sainte-Marie - Saint-Benoit. Follows RN2 on the north coast.

The buses run from around 04:30 on weekday mornings, but much later on Sundays and holidays, until 18:00, at hourly intervals.

The island's bus service is known as Car Jaune (Yellow Car, for their official colour scheme). The central bus station of Saint-Denis is L'Océan Terminal. It is located by the beach, just a few meters east from the Barachois waterfront.

By boat
The small harbor of Saint-Denis has no significant tourist interest. The international harbor serving the island is in Le Port.

Get around
The city center is very compact and can be toured easily on foot. The central zone extends from Barachois near the coast, along the Avenue de La Victoire and its extension, Rue de Paris, until the Jardin de L'Etat. The pedestrian zone (Carré Piéton) is in the area around Rue Marchel Leclérc.

During business hours, traffic in central Saint-Denis can be chaotic, and parking places may be scarce, whereas on Sundays, the city may seem nearly deserted, with many businesses closed and shuttered.

See


The important sights all lie along the axis of Avenue de La Victoire and Rue de Paris and are very compact to one another, so it is recommend to go on foot. In the city center, brand new buildings are often interspersed with decaying ones. Along side the many properly well-appointed and the most representative buildings of the colonial style, there those with little more to interest the tourist than their "historical patina", often immediately next door.

Buy
The main shopping district of Saint-Denis is in the pedestrian zone around Rue Marechal Leclerc, with plenty of small shops, as well as the large public market. The wide range of goods exhibited in the shops reflects the diverse cultural heritage of the island.



Eat
For a quick bite, there are a number of snack shacks at Le Barachois, with a variety flavors represented (including McDonald's).

Go next

 * Saint-Gilles (Reunion)
 * Piton de la Fournaise