Chantilly, Oise
Encyclopedia
Chantilly is a small city in northern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. It is designated municipally as a commune
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the department of Oise
Oise
Oise is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

.

It is in the metropolitan area
Aire urbaine
The aire urbaine is a statistical region created by the INSEE that comprises a commuter belt surrounding a contiguous urban core...

 of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 38.4 km. (23.9 miles) north-northeast from the centre of Paris
Kilometre Zero
In many countries, Kilometre Zero or similar terms in other languages, is a particular location , from which distances are traditionally measured...

.

Chantilly and six neighbouring communes form an urban area of 36,474 inhabitants (1999 census).

The Château de Chantilly
Château de Chantilly
The Château de Chantilly is a historic château located in the town of Chantilly, France. It comprises two attached buildings; the Grand Château, destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s, and the Petit Château which was built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency...

 was home of the princes of Condé, cousins of the kings of France. It now houses the Musée Condé.

Chantilly is also known for its horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 track, the Chantilly Racecourse
Chantilly Racecourse
Chantilly Racecourse is a Thoroughbred turf racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris....

, and the Living Museum of the Horse
Living Museum of the Horse
The Living Museum of the Horse is a museum in Chantilly, France dedicated to equine art and culture. It is housed in the Great Stables of the Château de Chantilly, about 40 km north of Paris.-History:...

, with stables built by the Princes of Condé. In 1995, Chantilly was twinned with the racing town of Epsom and Ewell
Epsom and Ewell
Epsom and Ewell is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England, covering the town of Epsom and the village of Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was made a municipal borough in 1937...

 in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Chantilly gave its name to Chantilly cream, popularised by the "maître d'hôtel" of the princes of Condé, François Vatel
François Vatel
François Vatel was the maître d'hôtel of Nicolas Fouquet and prince Louis II de Bourbon-Condé.He is widely, but incorrectly, credited with creating crème Chantilly , a sweet, vanilla-flavoured whipped cream, for an extravagant banquet for 2,000 people hosted in honour of Louis XIV by Louis, the...

.

Geography

The city is located in the Parisian basin at the south end of the region of Picardie
Picardie
Picardy is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the northern part of France.-History:The historical province of Picardy stretched from north of Noyon to Calais, via the whole of the Somme department and the north of the Aisne department...

 and the north end of the Parisian metropolitan area. It belongs to the historic region of Valois. Chantilly lies 39 km southwest of Beauvais
Beauvais
Beauvais is a city approximately by highway north of central Paris, in the northern French region of Picardie. It currently has a population of over 60,000 inhabitants.- History :...

, 79 km south of Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...

, and 38 km north of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

Chantilly is the center of an urban area that includes the communes of Avilly-Saint-Léonard
Avilly-Saint-Léonard
Avilly-Saint-Léonard is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-References:*...

, Boran-sur-Oise
Boran-sur-Oise
Boran-sur-Oise is a small town in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.- References :*...

, Coye-la-Forêt
Coye-la-Forêt
Coye-la-Forêt is a town in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-References:*...

, Gouvieux
Gouvieux
Gouvieux is a town in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-Geography:The commune is served by the train station of Chantilly-Gouvieux on the RER D line or the TER from the Parisian Gare du Nord station. The town is located in the Chantilly...

, Lamorlaye
Lamorlaye
Lamorlaye is a town in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-References:*...

, and Vineuil-Saint-Firmin
Vineuil-Saint-Firmin
Vineuil-Saint-Firmin is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise....

.

History

The city grew out of the chateau. In 1673, Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé
Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé was a French general and the most famous representative of the Condé branch of the House of Bourbon. Prior to his father's death in 1646, he was styled the Duc d'Enghien...

, known as le Grand Condé built a new road called Gouvieux, now the rue du Connétable. The land ceded on both sides of this road formed the embryo of the new town, in the form of guesthouses, workshops for the artisans of the chateau, and lodgings for domestics. This embryo was divided between the parish of Gouvieux in the diocese of Beauvais and the parish of Saint-Léonard in the diocese of Senlis
Senlis, Oise
Senlis is a French commune located in the Oise department near Paris. It has a long and rich heritage, having traversed centuries of history. This medieval town has welcomed some of the most renowned figures in French history, including Hugh Capet, Louis IX, the Marshall of France, Anne of Kiev and...

.

Le Grand Condé stipulated in his will that a parish church should be built near the chateau. Henri Jules de Bourbon-Condé fulfilled his father's wish in 1692 by building the church of Notre-Dame and creating a parish dependent on the Bishop of Senlis superseding all existing parishes. Chantilly was thus established as autonomous.

His grandson, Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, can be called the founder of the city, having drawn the first plans. He rationalized the town design and renamed the Rue Gouvieux the Grande Rue. After the start of construction of the Great Stables in 1721, he created a development in 1727 with housing for his officers. The architectural plans were drawn by Jean Aubert
Jean Aubert the Elder
Jean Aubert the Elder, was a French architect, "responsible for many fine interiors but not a leader of the first rank."...

, architect of the Great Stables. This housing was built between 1730 and 1733. In 1723, the Hospice de la Charité was built at the end of the Grande Rue.

In the second half of the 18th century several economic activities were furthered by the princes: lacemaking which had started in the 17th century but now reached its apogee, manufacture of porcelain which started in 1726 and was established in the Rue de la Machine in 1730. Industrial buildings were built in 1780 at the end of the Grand Canal to take advantage of power provided by the waterfall.

Thomas Muir connection

The Scottish political reformer Thomas Muir had been banished to Botany Bay for 14 years for the crime of Sedition in 1793. He managed to escape having only spent 13 months there. An adventurous journey followed that eventually brought Muir as a Citizen of France to Paris.

Muir became in time the principal intermediary between the Directory and the various republican refugees in Paris. He was aware that his movements were under scrutiny by Pitt’s agents. Accordingly, in his last known communication with the Directory in October 1798, he requested permission to leave Paris for somewhere less conspicuous, where his crucial negotiations with the Scots emissaries could be conducted in safety.

Thus it was that sometime in the middle of November 1798, Muir moved incognito to the little Île-de-France village of Chantilly to await the arrival of his Scots compatriots. There on 26 January 1799 he died, suddenly and alone, with only a small child for company. So close had his efforts for security been that not even the local official knew of his presence or identity. No identifying documents or papers were found on his person and his name was discovered only when the postman remembered delivering newspapers to him addressed to ‘Citoyen Thomas Muir’. When several days later the news of Muir’s passing finally reached Paris, a brief obituary notice was inserted in Le Moniteur to the effect that he had died from a recurrence of his old wounds.

"We have achieved a great duty in these critical times. After the destruction of so many years, we have been the first to revive the spirit of our country and give it a National Existence."

Thomas Muir 1798.

Transport

Chantilly is served by Chantilly – Gouvieux station on Paris RER line D
RER D
The RER D is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line officially runs from the northern terminus Orry-la-Ville – Coye to the southern terminuses Melun and Malesherbes...

 and on regional rail lines.

Places of interest

  • The surrounding Chantilly Forest
    Chantilly Forest
    Chantilly Forest or Forest of Chantilly is a forest of , located mainly in the Oise, north of Paris....

  • The Château de Chantilly
    Château de Chantilly
    The Château de Chantilly is a historic château located in the town of Chantilly, France. It comprises two attached buildings; the Grand Château, destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s, and the Petit Château which was built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency...

  • The Chantilly Racecourse
    Chantilly Racecourse
    Chantilly Racecourse is a Thoroughbred turf racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris....

  • The Musée Condé

Twin cities

Watermael-Boitsfort
Watermael-Boitsfort
Watermael-Boitsfort or Watermaal-Bosvoorde is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium....

, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 Überlingen
Überlingen
Überlingen is a city on the northern shore of Lake Constance . After the city of Friedrichshafen, it is the second largest city in the Bodenseekreis , and a central point for the outlying communities...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

Epsom and Ewell
Epsom and Ewell
Epsom and Ewell is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England, covering the town of Epsom and the village of Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was made a municipal borough in 1937...

, UK

External links

  • Chantilly's portal (in French
    French language
    French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

    )
  • Museum of the Horse
  • Chantilly photo gallery (in English
    English language
    English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

    )
  • Businesses in Chantilly)
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