Nestled within the heart of La Réunion, the Lazarets of Grande-Chaloupe were created starting in 1860 while the island was still a colony of the Second Empire. They served as quarantine places for workers arriving in the island as engagés. The sites are located in a ravine serving as a boundary between the communes of Saint-Denis and La Possession - specifically, lazaret no 1 is in La Possession and lazaret no 2 is in Saint-Denis.
Lazaret no 1 was created in 1860 to replace the Lazaret de la Ravine-à-Jacques. It features two dormitories, an infirmary serving as an isolation pavilion, and a longère. The site was listed in the Inventaire supplémentaire des Monuments historiques in 1998. Between 2004 and 2011, the C.H.A.M association restored one of the dormitories and the infirmary/isolation pavilion.
Today, the isolation pavilion and infirmary house a permanent exhibition on Engagisme and quarantine. The longère, partially destroyed by a landslide, houses an exhibition on the plants of La Réunion. Nearby, Lazaret no 2 contains an administrative building and two dormitories. In Lazaret no 1, dormitory no 2 is occupied by the Direction départementale de l'Équipement.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Mutabor
Discuss this with the author and others
No comments yet. Be the first to start the conversation.