Cilaos is a town and commune of approximately 6000 residents, situated on the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. It is located centrally on the island, in a cirque of altitude 1214m. Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town In American English, a town is usually a municipal corporation that is smaller than a city but larger than a village. ... The commune (in French: commune, word appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, gathering of people sharing a common life, from Latin communis, things held in common) is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. ... A cirque is an amphitheatre-like valley of glacial origin, formed by glacial erosion at the head of the glacier. ...

Réunion is the westernmost of the three Mascarene Islands, and lies approximately 700km east of the coast of Madagascar. The Mascarene Islands (or Mascarenhas Archipelago) is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, which includes Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues, and Cargados Carajos shoals. ...

World Record

From March 15, 1952 to March 16, 1952, 1,870mm (73 inches) of rain fell in Cilaos in 24 hours, the greatest amount of rain ever to fall in one day. March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (75th in Leap years). ... 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Rain falling For other uses see Rain (disambiguation). ... Rain falling For other uses see Rain (disambiguation). ...

History

The name Cilaos comes from a the Malagasy word, Tsilaosa, which means the place one never leaves.

According to some historians, the word Cilaos finds its origins in the name of a Malagasian slave named Tsilaos who took refuge in this cirque. At the time, slaves were called "brown", whereas runaway slaves were called "black-brown". This is a list of historians. ... A monument celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, erected in Victoria Tower Gardens, Millbank, Westminster, London Wiktionary has a definition of: Slavery Slavery can mean one or more related conditions which involve control of a person against his or her will, enforced by violence or...

The first inhabitants of the cirque of Cilaos were thus "black-browns" who believed themselves to be at the top of the world and completely safe. However, these first runaways were recaptured very quickly, tracked and hunted by well-organized and well-armed slaveholders. In these runaways' attempts to escape recapture, several were killed. It seems likely that these first runaways created the goat paths that climb most of the mountains on Réunion. Mount Cook, a mountain in New Zealand A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. ...

After the death or recapture of these runaway slaves, the cirque of Cilaos became uninhabited once again for a while, since the first records of its settlement occur only around 1850. In this year, a spa station was set up, and by 1866, there were 960 inhabitants there. By 1900, the population had risen to 2500. The census of 1982 recorded 5629 inhabitants in the cirque of Cilaos. A reference to colonization, or the resulting communities. ... 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... See also spa SPA can refer to: Saudi Press Agency School of Planning and architecture is Indias premier Architecture and city-planning institutions. ... 1866 is a common year starting on Monday. ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

When French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing visited Réunion, he and his wife had lunch with a Cilaosian peasant. They enjoyed world-famous Cilaosian lentils, cooked in Cilaosian wine. Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard dEstaing (born February 2, 1926 in Koblenz, Germany) is a French politician who was President of the Republic from 1974 until 1981. ... Binomial name Lens culinaris Medikus Red lentils Lentils (Lens culinaris, Fabaceae) are lens-shaped pulses that grow on an annual, bushlike plant. ... A glass of red wine Wine is an alcoholic beverage that is made by fermenting grapes or grape juice. ...

Local specialities

Embroidery: The days of Cilaos

The introduction of embroidery was due to the efforts of Angèle MacAuliffe, daughter of a doctor who worked at a hot-spring clinic in the early 20th century. The techniques that she introduced have scarcely changed since, and the popularity of "Days of Cilaos" embroidery is due in a large part to this stability and tradition. Gold Embroidery Embroidery is an ancient variety of decorative needlework in which designs and pictures are created by stitching strands of some material on to a layer of another material. ... A clinic or outpatient clinic is a small medical facility that provides health care for ambulatory patients - as opposed to inpatients treated in a hospital. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

This local embroidery has been transmitted for over 100 years by local nuns (such as Sister Cécile and Sister Irénée). In 1954, the "Sewing room of Cilaos" was created and Sister Anasthasie (Marie-Hélène Techer) was appointed as its leader. Sister Anasthasie would do her utmost to teach a hundred young girls her embroidery techniques, and she was recognized in 1983 when she received the gold medal "Best worker in France" competition in the lace and embroidery category. In the 1980s, these embroidered works were generally sold out of the workers' homes or more frequently from roadside stands. Furthermore, an association for the promotion of Cilaosian lace was created in 1983 to protect and develop this important craft of the Cirque. In 1985, this association had 50 embroidery workers. Its president was Ms. Suzanne Maillot, Sister Anasthasie's assistant at the "Sewing-room of Cilaos". In general, a nun is a female ascetic who chooses to voluntarily leave the world and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent. ... 1954 was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Today, an embroidery house of the association lets a few workers learn and show tourists this delicate art.

External links

Tourism

• Travel guide to Cilaos from Wikitravel

• Les Calumets - B & B Bed & Breakfast - Guesthouse - Cirque of Cilaos