Bras-Panon

Where the name comes from

The municipality's name is closely linked to the Panon-Desbassayns family, wealthy landowners who lived here. Today Bras-Panon is renowned for its vanilla, grown locally since the 19th century.

History

Bras-Panon is a municipality on the east coast, at the mouth of the Rivière du Mât. Its evocative Creole name — in Réunion Creole, “bras” means a watercourse — is a reminder of how important rivers are in local place names. The municipality developed in the 17th century as farmland devoted to sugar cane, taking advantage of the fertile alluvial soils deposited by the river.

Bras-Panon is famous as one of the world capitals of Bourbon vanilla. It is home to several cooperatives and companies that cure and export vanilla, renowned worldwide for its unique aroma. Vanilla planifolia, introduced to Réunion in the 19th century and pollinated by hand since Edmond Albius's discovery, finds ideal soil and climate conditions in the municipality's wooded uplands.

The Maison de la Vanille, the municipality's museum and education centre, traces the history of this emblematic crop. The Rivière du Mât and its natural swimming pools, popular with families at weekends, are among the local attractions. Bras-Panon is also a gateway to the trails of the coastal forest and the uplands of the north-east.

Landscapes

Bras-Panon occupies the lowlands of the east coast watered by the Rivière du Mât. The landscape is dominated by sugar cane, with vanilla grown higher up. The coastline is rocky and exposed to easterly swells. The Rivière du Mât, one of the longest rivers on the island, shapes the area, carving a valley that grows steadily deeper inland.

Local culture

Bras-Panon has an identity closely tied to vanilla and to east-coast farming. The Fête de la Vanille, held every year, brings the community together around this exceptional product. The municipality also keeps up a tradition of river fishing and river swimming, everyday Réunion pastimes that set the rhythm of family life.

Why it matters

Bassin La Paix and Bassin La Mer, in the upper reaches of the Rivière des Roches: a municipality offering some of the island's most unspoilt natural pools.