Meudon

Meudon
Observatory of Meudon
Coat of arms
Paris and inner ring départements
Coordinates: 48°48′27″N 2°14′25″E / 48.8075°N 2.2403°ECoordinates: 48°48′27″N 2°14′25″E / 48.8075°N 2.2403°E
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Hauts-de-Seine
Arrondissement	Boulogne-Billancourt
Canton	Meudon
Intercommunality	Arc de Seine
Government
• Mayor (2001–present)	Hervé Marseille (NC)
Area^1	9.90 km^2 (3.82 sq mi)
Population (2006)^2	45,682
• Density	4,600/km^2 (12,000/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code	92048 / 92190, 92360
Elevation	28–179 m (92–587 ft) (avg. 103 m or 338 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. ^2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Meudon (French pronunciation: ​[mø.dɔ̃]) is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located 9.1 km (5.7 mi) from the center of Paris.

Geography

The town of Meudon is built on the hills and valleys of the Seine. The wood of Meudon lies for the most part to the west of the town. The northwest part of Meudon, overlooking the Seine, is known as Bellevue ("beautiful view").

History

At Meudon, the argile plastique clay was extensively mined in the 19th century. The first fossil of the European diatryma Gastornis parisiensis was discovered in these deposits by Gaston Planté.

Archaeological sites show that Meudon has been populated since Neolithic times.

The Gauls called the area Mol-Dum (sand dune), and the Romans Latinized the name as Moldunum.

The handsome Galliera Institutions, on the hill of Fleury, were founded by the duchess of Galliera for the care of aged persons and orphans. The buildings were completed in 1885.

The old castle of Meudon was rebuilt in Renaissance style in the mid-sixteenth century. It was bought by Louis XIV as a residence for Louis, le Grand Dauphin, under whom Meudon became a center of aristocratic life. After the death of le Grand Dauphin in 1711 the château was neglected, emptied in the Revolutionary sales, and finally burned at the close of the Franco-Prussian War, 1871, while it was occupied by Prussian soldiers. A branch of the Paris Observatory was founded in 1877 on the ruins. The Meudon town hall is about 43 m (141.08 ft) in altitude above that of Paris and the climb from there to the observatory offers some rewarding views of Paris.

Automotive pioneering

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, the inventor of the 'world's first automobile', is reported to have carried out some early trials at Meudon in the early 1770s.

Pioneering aviation

Chalais-Meudon was important in the pioneering of aviation, initially balloons and airships, but also the early heavier-than-air machines. A Corps d'Aérostatiers under the command of Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle was established in 1794, its balloons being used at the Battle of Fleurus. 'Hangar Y' (at 48°47′52″N 2°13′59″E / 48.7977°N 2.233°E) was built in 1880 at the request of the military engineer Captain Charles Renard (1847–1905), for the construction of balloons and airships. The building is 70 m (230 ft) long, 24 m (79 ft) wide and around 26 m (85 ft) high. The airship La France, designed by Renard and Arthur Krebs, was built in Hangar Y in 1884 and was the first airship which was controllable during flight and which could return to its starting point.^[1]

Economy

Although a choice residential district, access to the railway (RER) and the Seine river have made Meudon a manufacturing center since the 1840s. Metal products and military explosives have been continuously produced there since then.

Scientific facilities

In addition to the Observatory, what is today ONERA, a national aerospace research institute and wind tunnel has been present since the military opened its aerostatic (lighter-than-air) field in the Chalais park in 1877. From 1921 to 1981 the Air Museum was located here until it moved to Le Bourget Airport.

CNRS has a campus in Bellevue.

Public transport

Meudon Val Fleury Station

Meudon is well served by public transports operated jointly by the SNCF and the RATP.

Réseau Express Régional (RER) - Line C

Meudon is served by the line C of the RER by the Meudon – Val Fleury station.

Transilien - Line N

Meudon is also served by the transilien line N through the Meudon station and the Bellevue station.

Tramway - T2 and T6

The T2 tramway line links the Pont de Bezons station to the Porte de Versailles station. It stops by La Défense. Meudon is served by the Brimborion station and the Meudon-sur-Seine station.

The T6 tramway line runs from Châtillon to Viroflay. Meudon is served by the Georges Millandy and the Meudon la Forêt stations.

Buses

Meudon is served by twelve lines of the RATP bus network, that have numerous stops in the city:

• Line 162 runs from Arceuil - Cachan RER station to Villejuif Louis Aragon.
• Line 169 runs from Pont de Sèvres to the Georges Pompidou hospital.
• Line 179 runs from Pont de Sèvres to the Robinson RER station.
• Line 190 runs from Petit Clamart to Mairie d'Issy.
• Line 289 runs from Porte de Saint-Cloud to Clamart - Cité de la Plaine.
• Line 290 runs from Le Plessis-Robinson to Issy-Val-de-Seine.
• Line 291 runs from Pont de Sèvres to Vélizy Europe Sud.
• Line 379 runs from Vélizy 2 to Antony - La Croix de Berny RER station.
• Line 389 runs from Pont de Sèvres to Meudon-la-Forêt.
• Line 390 runs from Vélizy Villacoublay to the Bourg-la-Reine RER station.

The area was once served by the Bellevue funicular, a model of which is in the local Museum of Art and History.

Education

Public schools in Meudon:

• Three groups of preschools and elementary schools^[2]
• Nine standalone preschools^[3]
• Six standalone public elementary schools^[4]
• Three junior high schools: Collège Armande Béjart, Collège Bel Air, Collège Rabelais^[5]
• Two senior high schools: Lycée Rabelais and Lycée des métiers Les Côtes de Villebon^[5]

Private schools in Meudon:

• One junior and senior high school Institut Notre-Dame^[5]
• One elementary school through junior high school ^[6]
• Three preschools-elementary schools^[6]

International relations

Meudon is twinned with:^[7]

• Mazkeret Batia, Israel^[7]
• Celle, Germany^[7][8]
• Borough of Rushmoor (Farnborough and Aldershot) England^[7][9][10]
• Brezno, Slovakia^[7]
• Ciechanów, Poland^[7][11]

Personalities

• Madame de Pompadour lived in the Château de Bellevue, built for her by Louis XV in 1750; it was demolished in 1823.
• Rodin's villa des Brillants, now a museum of his art, is located here, as is his grave.
• Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia lived here in exile in Château Sans-Souci (in Bellevue), from 1920.
• Richard Wagner was a resident (No. 27 Av. du Château), and here composed The Flying Dutchman.
• Louis-Ferdinand Céline lived here until his death, and is buried in Bas Meudon.
• The 20th-century French lawyer and Islamologist Georges-Henri Bousquet (1900–1978) was born in Meudon.
• Painter May Alcott lived here until her death.
• Jean Robiquet, art historian and curator was born in Meudon 6 July 1874.
• The artist Jean Metzinger lived and works in Meudon from around 1911, during the crucial years of Cubism (i.e., at its outset).
• The painter Gwen John lived in Meudon from 1911 until just before her death in 1939.
• Artists Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp were resident here from 1929-1940. Their neighbours were the artist and architect Theo van Doesburg and his wife Nelly.
• The town has a monument to Rabelais who died here as canon of Meudon, where he held the benefice from 1551-1552.
• Charle-Michel Marle, mathematician, born in 1934, has lived in Meudon since 1970.
• Jean-Luc Marion was born in 1946.
• Clémence Poésy, French actress best known for her portrayal of Fleur Delacour in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie.
• Lionel Jospin, former France prime minister was born here.
• André Kertész, photographer legend, took a famous photo of the train viaduct in Meudon.
• Marcel Dupré, perhaps the most famous French organist of the 20th century, lived and worked in Meudon. He transformed his home into a small concert hall; the current owners of the home still hold public concerts there.^[12]
• Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, footballer
• Gregoire Defrel, footballer
• Souleymane Doukara, footballer
• Adama Soumare, footballer
• Jean-Paul Sartre grew up at his maternal grandfather's house in Meudon, as recounted in his memoir The Words.

See also

• Communes of the Hauts-de-Seine department
• A statue of François Rabelais by Georges Saupique stands in front of the Meudon town hall. François Rabelais was the parish priest of Meudon from 1551 to 1553

References

• INSEE

Notes

1. Ville de Meudon, Aviation, Archdeacon and Wright No 3
2. "Écoles maternelles." Meudon. p. 1-2. Retrieved on September 7, 2016.
3. "Écoles maternelles." Meudon. p. 1. Retrieved on September 7, 2016.
4. "Écoles élémentaires." Meudon. p. 1. Retrieved on September 7, 2016.
5. "Collèges et lycées." Meudon. Retrieved on September 7, 2016.
6. "Écoles maternelles." Meudon. p. 2. Retrieved on September 7, 2016.
7. "Ville de Meudon - Villes jumelles". Ville de Meudon. Archived from the original on 2013-05-07. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
8. "Stadt Celle". www.celle.de. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
9. "Rushmoor - Our Twin Towns". Rushmoor Borough Council. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
10. "Twinning Association of Rushmoor". The Farnborough Society. Archived from the original on 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
11. "Ciechanów Twin towns". Urząd Miasta Ciechanów. Archived from the original on 2013-07-29. Retrieved 2013-07-29. |archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)
12. l'Association pour la Sauvegarde de l'Orgue de Marcel Dupré

External links

• Ville de Meudon website
• Le musée de Meudon
• Observatoire de Paris (Paris Observatory)