"Gateway to the good country, bay of the best anchorage".

That is how, in 1669, Etienne Regnault, First Commander of the India Company, described the place where he decided to set up his residence, in the North of the Island.

Over the centuries, "the place, destinated to become the centre of trade and government", has managed to preserve its history and heritage, while looking to the future, this becoming the leading city in the French Overseas Territories both in terms of population growth and cultural activity.

1738 : A city endowed with a strategic military position, an India Company trading post, redolent of commerce, adventure, perfumes and spices, St Denis became the official Capital of the Island under the governorship of Mahé de Labourdonnais. The total population of the Island was then 2,166 inhabitants, including 1,800 slaves.

1767 : Ordonnance Officer Honoré de Crémont embellished the city. The street plan was laid out in a grid pattern by Chevalier Banks in 1777

1790 : St Denis was incorporated as a borough on July 23rd.

1810 : St Denis' English period: on July 9th, the Island fell in the hands of the English and Sir Robert Farquhar took the command of "The Isle of Bourbon".

1815 : The Island was ceded back to France. Charles Desbassyns built the first sugar cane factory at "Le Chaudron".

1833 : Transfer of the Royal Court from St Paul to St Denis. A police force is organised.

1848 : On December 20th Sarda Garriga, the Commissioner of the Republic, officially abolished slavery. All liberated received the status of French citizenship.

1850 : On December 27th, Bourbon's curacy is elevated to the status of diocese, and his first bishop, Mgr Deprez settled in 1851, May the 25th. The Golden Age of cane sugar. A period of great prosperity began. The city was modernized under the governorship of Hubert Delisle, first Creole governor.

1868 : St Denis was living severe social unrest, demonstrations in front of the Town Hall. St Denis experiences tragic times.

1886 : The transfer of the harbour to Le Port, the closure of the wharves, upheavals and wars, hurricanes and epidemics all deeply affected the city.

1918 : The end of the first World War and a Spanish influenza mean a lot of victims in St Denis.

1946 : The capital was brought to life again and comforted its position with the Decree of March 19th establishing Reunion Island as a French Overseas Department. The population of St Denis now stood at 36,090 inhabitants.

1947 : The 73rd and last governor, Mr Capagorry left Reunion Island, to be replaced by the 1st Prefet, Mr Paul Demange.

On August 24th, the Léon Dierx Museum received the Vollard bequest: 150 priceless masterpieces (Cézanne, Chagall, Degas, Gauguin...).

1959 : Charles de Gaulle, President of the Republic, made a triumphal visit.

1975 : The C.F.A (Comptoir Français d'Afrique / French Trading Post of Africa) Franc was replaced by the French Franc.

1983 : St Denis had 109,072 inhabitants. Thanks to the status of Reunion as a French Department, and to the effects of the Decentralization Act, St Denis was now a French-looking modern and dynamic city.

1989 : On March 25th, Mr Gilbert Annette was elected the 50th mayor of the city. The main actions were centred on employment and lodging.

Following after in 1994, M. Michel Tamaya.

The inhabitants of St Denis are proud of the great men it has nurtured, be they politicans, men of letters, scientists, or members of the French Academy. A number of streets, institutions and buildings have been named in their memory.

Sarda Garriga : General Commissioner from October 13th 1848 to March 7th, 1850

François de Mahy : Deputy of Reunion Island.

Henry Hubert Delisle : Governor.

Lisley Geoffroy : Captain assistant at the Military and Civil Engineering.

With a population of nearly 125,000, St Denis is the only overseas town among the thirteen French cities selected by the State for an "Urban Improvement Scheme". As the administrative, financial, economic and intellectual capital, it is extending its influence over the whole island and is a focus of population and business.