# Balade, New Caledonia

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{{Infobox settlement
|name          =  Balade
|other_name             =
|native_name            = 
|settlement_type        =Village
|image_skyline          = 
|imagesize              = 
|image_caption          = 
|pushpin_map           =New Caledonia
|pushpin_label_position =right
|pushpin_map_caption    =Location in New Caledonia
|subdivision_type       = Country
|subdivision_name       =[France](/source/France)
|subdivision_type1      =Overseas Territory
|subdivision_name1      = [New Caledonia](/source/New_Caledonia)
|subdivision_type2      = 
|subdivision_name2      = 
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|leader_title           = 
|leader_name            =
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|established_date       = 
|area_total_km2           = 
|population_as_of               = 
|population_footnotes           =
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|timezone               =  
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|coordinates            = {{coord |20.30933|S |164.499969|E |format=dms |display=title, inline |type:city_region:NC}}
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}} 
'''Balade''', also written '''Balaide''', is a village located in the north of [New Caledonia](/source/New_Caledonia). It was the site of the establishment of a Catholic mission in 1843, and the location of the first Catholic church on the island, which still exists to this day.<ref name="La Mission" /> 

==History==
The bay of Balade is the site where [James Cook](/source/James_Cook) first visited the island on 4 September 1774, as well as where the ship ''Bucéphale'' landed the missionaries in 1843 and where Admiral [Auguste Febvrier Despointes](/source/Auguste_Febvrier_Despointes) disembarked from the ship ''Le Phoque'' to take possession of New Caledonia for France in the name of [Napoleon III](/source/Napoleon_III) on 24 September 1853.<ref name="new caledonia travel" /><ref>{{cite book |editor=Ramsay, R. |editor2=Ramsay, R. | date=30 November 2011 | chapter=Nights of Storytelling: A Cultural History of Kanaky-New Caledonia | title=87James Cook: A Positive Account of Balade, New Caledonia, 1774 | publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press | pages=87–96 | doi=10.21313/hawaii/9780824832223.003.0005 | isbn=978-0-8248-3222-3}}</ref>

Balade is where Catholic Missionaries established themselves on the island in 1843, celebrating the first mass on 2km north on the beach at Maamaat.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Rue, place, quartier... - VILLAGE DE BALADE - Ouégoa |url=https://www.petitfute.com/v52544-ouegoa-98821/c1173-visites-points-d-interet/c975-rue-place-quartier/674425-village-de-balade.html |website=www.petitfute.com |access-date=27 June 2025 |language=fr}}</ref> A church, the Église de Saint Denis, which is still standing today, and was the first Catholic church on the island, was established at Balade in 1845.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=À Pouébo, l'église de Balade a été à son tour prise pour cible |url=https://la1ere.franceinfo.fr/nouvellecaledonie/province-nord/pouebo/a-pouebo-l-eglise-de-balade-a-ete-a-son-tour-prise-pour-cible-1520216.html |website=Nouvelle-Calédonie la 1ère |access-date=27 June 2025 |language=fr-FR |date=9 September 2024}}</ref> In 1847, due to famine and disease that had spread among the missionaries, caused rebellion to spread among the natives, who then beheaded Father Blaise Marmoiton, one of the missionaries. This incident is depicted in the church's stained glass windows.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Rappels historiques |url=http://nllecaledonie.decouv.free.fr/Histoire.html |website=nllecaledonie.decouv.free.fr |access-date=27 June 2025}}</ref>

In 1913, a monument was erected in Balade to commemorate 60 years since the French occupied New Caledonia. The monument remains, however the area and path up to the monument are not maintained and have become overgrown, as they are rarely visited.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Monument de Balade |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/monument-de-balade |website=Atlas Obscura |access-date=27 June 2025 |language=en |date=27 June 2025}}</ref>

The church at Balade was subject to vandalism in 2024, having the door and the altar set alight, along with graffiti being found.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
<references>

<ref name="La Mission">{{cite web |title=Introduction La Mission |url=http://docplayer.fr/15343567-Introduction-la-mission.html |website=docplayer.fr |access-date=4 June 2020 |language=fr}}</ref>

<ref name="new caledonia travel">{{cite web |title=Travel to New Caledonia - Balade Memorial |url=https://www.newcaledonia.travel/au/east-coast/pouebo/balade-memorial |website=www.newcaledonia.travel |access-date=7 June 2020 |language=en-AU}}</ref>

</references>

Category:Populated places in New Caledonia

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Balade, New Caledonia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balade%2C_New_Caledonia) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balade%2C_New_Caledonia?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.