Meudon
Meudon is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located 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.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, 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 in altitude above that of Paris and the climb from there to the observatory offers some rewarding views of Paris.
Automotive pioneering
, 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
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' was built in 1880 at the request of the military engineer Captain Charles Renard, for the construction of balloons and airships. The building is long, wide and around 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.Economy
Although a choice residential district, access to the railway 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 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 is well served by public transport operated jointly by the SNCF and the RATP.Réseau Express Régional (RER)">Réseau Express Régional">Réseau Express Régional (RER) – Line C">RER C">Line C
Meudon is served by line C of the RER by Meudon – Val Fleury station.[Transilien] – Line N">Transilien Paris – Montparnasse">Line N
Meudon is also served by the Transilien Line N through Meudon station and Bellevue station.Tramway">Tramways in Île-de-France">Tramway – T2">Île-de-France tramway Line 2">T2 and T6">Île-de-France tramway Line 6">T6
The T2 tramway line links Pont de Bezons station to Porte de Versailles station. It stops by La Défense. Meudon is served by Brimborion and Meudon-sur-Seine stations.The T6 tramway line runs from Châtillon to Viroflay. Meudon is served by Georges Millandy and Meudon la Forêt stations.
Buses">Bus (RATP)">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.
Education
Public schools:- Three groups of preschools and elementary schools
- Nine standalone preschools
- Six standalone public elementary schools
- Three junior high schools: Collège Armande Béjart, Collège Bel Air, Collège Rabelais
- Two senior high schools: Lycée Rabelais and Lycée des métiers Les Côtes de Villebon
- One junior and senior high school Institut Notre-Dame
- One elementary school through junior high school
- Three preschools-elementary schools
International relations
- Brezno, Slovakia
- Celle, Germany
- Ciechanów, Poland
- Mazkeret Batia, Israel
- Rushmoor, England, United Kingdom
- Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium
Personalities
- Émilie Ambre, the French opera singer, lived on an estate in Meudon bought for her by her then-lover William III of the Netherlands in 1877
- Madame de Pompadour lived in the Château de Bellevue, built for her by Louis XV in 1750; it was demolished in 1823.
- Sculptor Auguste 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, from 1920.
- Richard Wagner was a resident, 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 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 worked in Meudon from around 1911, during some of the crucial years of Cubism.
- 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 to 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 to 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.
- 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
- George Simeon Papadopoulos, OBE, Professor of History, Dep. Director of Education Department of OECD