Grand Place, Réunion
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Grand Place
|native_name = Grann Place
|settlement_type = Village
|image_skyline = View_from_Maïdo_onto_Cirque_de_Mafate_9_(31182524440).jpg
|imagesize =
|image_caption = Cirque de Mafate with Grand Place
(settlement on the bottom right)
|pushpin_map = Réunion
|pushpin_relief =
|pushpin_label_position = right
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in La Réunion
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = France
|subdivision_type1 = Department
|subdivision_name1 = La Réunion
|subdivision_type2 = Commune
|subdivision_name2 = La Possession
|area_total_km2 =
|population_as_of =
|population_footnotes =
|population_total = ca. 130
|population_density_km2 =
|coordinates = {{coord|21|02|37|S|55|24|43|E|region:HT|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_m = 550
|elevation_point = Cayenne
}}
Grand Place is a village in the commune La Possession in the French overseas department of La Réunion, an island in the Indian Ocean. The hamlet (fr. îlet = little island) is situated in the Cirque de Mafate, a caldera of the Piton des Neiges volcano, which is part of the Réunion National Park. It is accessible only on foot or by helicopter.
Village structure
Grand Place is one of the settlements in the Mafate cirque with the largest surface area and stretches on a sloped plane that reaches from 520 m up to ~1000 m in the shadow of Piton Calumet (height 1616 m).{{cite web |url=https://www.ouest-lareunion.com/mafate-grand-place |title= Grand Place, un îlet à trois niveaux en plein coeur du Cirque de Mafate |last= |first= |date= |work= Mafate, paradis de la randonnée |publisher=L'Office de Tourisme de l'Ouest |access-date=2022-10-30}} Therefore it may be separated into three "districts":{{cite web |url=https://www.reunion-mafate.com/cirque/ilets |title=Les îlets du cirque de Mafate |last=DONEDDU |first=Mickaël |date= |work=Cirque de Mafate / La Réunion |publisher=Mickaël DONEDDU |access-date=2022-10-30}}
- Grand Place les Hauts,
- Grand Place École,
- Grand Place les Bas aka "Cayenne".
Nearby, the Rivière des Galets flows northward and drains the caldera.
The îlet's small church Notre Dame de Lourdes is located in Cayenne. The current building had been rebuilt and inaugurated in 1970. The little belltower carries a bell which seems to be cast with the inscription "Jesus, Maria, Joseph" in 1745.{{cite web |url=https://www.ile-delareunion.com/fr/cirque-de-mafate.html |title=Le majestueux Cirque de Mafate |last= |first= |date= |work=LA REUNION, lé gayar !!! |publisher=Web Altitude |access-date=2022-10-31}}
Education
The first school (and then the only one in Mafate) was erected in Cayenne in 1923, but this building is no longer in use, although it is still standing.{{cite web |url=https://www.petitfute.com/v41147-grand-place-97428/ |title=Guide de voyage / Réunion / Cirques / Grand Place |last= |first= |date= |work= |publisher=Petit Futé |access-date=2022-10-31}} In 1996 the small elementary school Leonard Thomas was established in Grand Place École.{{cite web |url=https://annuaire-education.fr/etablissement/la-possession/ecole-elementaire-publique-leonard-thomas/9740186J.html#titre_statistiques_commune_insee |title=Ecole élémentaire publique Leonard Thomas de La Possession |last=Delmas |first=Julien |date=2022-04-04 |work=L’Annuaire de l’éducation |publisher=SASU Starty Media |access-date=2022-10-31}} It has a capacity of 10-20 pupils which originate not only from Grand Place itself, but also from nearby hamlets (îlets).{{cite web |url=http://www.agorah.com/upload/urbanisme/eco_plu/20151212_LIVRET_DIAGNOSTIC_EN_MARCHANT_RAVINE_A_MALHEUR.pdf |title="Eco PLU participatif" La Possession |author=Delphine DE DEA |date=2015-12-12 |work= |publisher=AGORAH, l’agence d’urbanisme à La Réunion |access-date=2022-10-31 |page= 19}} The teacher usually stays during the week in a room of the small complex, and there is also a canteen option for the kids to have a warm meal during the lunchbreak.{{cite web |url=https://www.zinfos974.com/Mafate-Les-parents-d-eleves-en-colere-bloquent-la-cantine-de-l-ecole-a-Grand-Place_a150350.html |title=Mafate: Les parents d’élèves en colère bloquent la cantine de l’école à Grand-Place |author=Charlotte MOLINA |date=2020-03-09 |work= |publisher=Zinfos974 |access-date=2022-10-31}}
Notable people
File:Entrée_d'un_gîte_de_montagne_sur_l'île_de_La_Réunion.jpg
A basalt statue of Yvrin Pausé (1928-2019), created by sculptor Marco Ah Kiem, was installed in the village in 2016 to honour the mailman of the Mafate mountains. From 1951-1991 he served the area by foot and walked about a quarter million kilometers in his years of duty.{{cite web |url=https://imazpress.com/actus-reunion/la-reunion-rend-hommage-a-lancien-facteur-de-mafate |title=Ivrin Pausé est décédé à l'âge de 91 ans – La Réunion rend hommage à l’ancien facteur de Mafate |last= |first= |date=2019-08-29 |work= |publisher=IMAZPRESS REUNION |access-date=2022-10-30}} Also the postal sorting center in Le Port bears his name,{{cite web |url=https://www.ouest-lareunion.com/le-facteur-de-mafate |title=Le facteur de Mafate |last= |first= |date= |work= |publisher=L'Office de Tourisme de l'Ouest |access-date=2022-10-30}} and he received a medal of merit in 1993 for his accomplishments.{{cite web |url=https://www.reunionnaisdumonde.com/magazine/actualites/le-facteur-de-mafate-a-sa-statue/ |title=Le facteur de Mafate a sa statue |last= |first= |date=2016-10-16 |work=Réunionnais du Monde |publisher= |access-date=2022-11-01}} Grand Place was his birthplace {{cite web |url=https://www.reunionnaisdumonde.com/magazine/1001-celebrites/ivrin-pause-souvenirs-du-facteur-de-mafate/ |title=Ivrin Pausé : souvenirs du facteur de Mafate |first=Jennifer |last=Vignaud |date=2019-11-18 |work=Réunionnais du Monde |publisher= |access-date=2022-10-30}} and where he lived and worked, including a grocery store which he operated with his wife since 1960, and a lodge, Le Bougainvillier, which he opened at age 71.