The Landscape of Grand Pré (Canada)
Situated in the southern Minas Basin of Nova Scotia, the Grand Pré marshland and archaeological sites constitutes a cultural landscape bearing testimony to the development of agricultural farmland using dykes and the aboiteau wooden sluice system, started by the Acadians in the 17th century and further developed and maintained by the Planters and present day inhabitants. The site - marked by one of the most extreme tidal ranges in the world, averaging at 11.6 metres – is also inscribed as a memorial to Acadian way of life and deportation, which started in 1755. Over 1,300 hectares, the cultural landscape encompasses a large expanse of polder farmland and archaeological elements of the towns of Grand Pré, founded by the Acadians and Hortonville, which was built by their British successors. The landscape is an exceptional example of the adaptation of the first European settlers to the conditions of the North American Atlantic coast and an iconic place of remembrance of the Acadians’ deportation, known as the Grand Dérangement.