Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia

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Deportation of Acadians order, read by Winslow in Grand-Pré church, painting by C.W. Jefferys.

Grand-Pré is a Canadian rural community in Kings County, Nova Scotia.

Its French name translates to "Great Meadow" and the community lies at the eastern edge of the Annapolis Valley several kilometres east of the town of Wolfville on a peninsula jutting into the Minas Basin, framed by the Gaspereau and Cornwallis rivers.

[edit] History

Grand-Pré was founded by Acadians settlers who travelled east from Champlain's original settlement in Port-Royal Annapolis Royal in 1680. where they remained until their expulsion during the Great Upheaval, which began in 1755. American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow later immortalized the the tragedy of the expulsion with his epic poem Evangeline. For over three hundred years, the village of Grand Pre has provided a home for immigrant farmers and artisans.

Theflag of Acadia.

Sir Robert Laird Borden, the eighth Prime Minister of Canada, was born in Grand-Pré

In 1747, a French force defeated a larger British force here at the Battle of Grand-Pré

[edit] Today

Today, Grand-Pré is the home the Grand-Pré National Historic Site commemorating the Acadian people and their deportation. One of Nova Scotia's best known wineries, Domaine de Grand Pré, is located in the community. Grand-Pré is also Canada's first designated Historic Rural District.