Houdan
Encyclopedia
Houdan is a commune
in the Yvelines
department in the Île-de-France
region
in north-central France
.
in the Yvelines
département. It is linked by SNCF Alençon and Paris (Gare Montparnasse).
The name has evolved from the Saxon
"Hoding," meaning "settlement on the hill". Houdan is thought to have been inhabited since the 5th century. By the 12th century, two churches and a chateau were present.
During the Hundred Years' War
, the town changed hands and was pillaged frequently. The town was destroyed; only the 12th century keep survives from that period. After the war, the town was under English administration until 1475.
Houdan is mentioned in the Prophecies of Nostradamus
.
Houdan was a staging post on the road from Paris to Brittany
, and many old inns are still standing.
Houdan was also an important poultry
market for Paris and a breed of is named for the town. The breed is ornamental, but is also used for its meat and white eggs.
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 Yvelines
Yvelines
Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.-History:Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application from 26 February 1965.It gained the...
department in the Île-de-France
Île-de-France (région)
Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in north-central 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...
.
Geography
Houdan is 63 kilometres (39 mi) west of ParisParis
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...
in the Yvelines
Yvelines
Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.-History:Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application from 26 February 1965.It gained the...
département. It is linked by SNCF Alençon and Paris (Gare Montparnasse).
History
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
"Hoding," meaning "settlement on the hill". Houdan is thought to have been inhabited since the 5th century. By the 12th century, two churches and a chateau were present.
During the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
, the town changed hands and was pillaged frequently. The town was destroyed; only the 12th century keep survives from that period. After the war, the town was under English administration until 1475.
Houdan is mentioned in the Prophecies of Nostradamus
Nostradamus
Michel de Nostredame , usually Latinised to Nostradamus, was a French apothecary and reputed seer who published collections of prophecies that have since become famous worldwide. He is best known for his book Les Propheties , the first edition of which appeared in 1555...
.
Houdan was a staging post on the road from Paris to Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, and many old inns are still standing.
Houdan was also an important poultry
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
market for Paris and a breed of is named for the town. The breed is ornamental, but is also used for its meat and white eggs.
Sites of touristic interest
- Vestiges of the old town wall and its towers.
- Old houses of the 15th and 16th centuries.
- Donjon de HoudanDonjon de HoudanThe Donjon de Houdan is a medieval fortified tower in the commune of Houdan in the Yvelines département of France.- Architecture :...
-12th century keepKeepA keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
(built ca. 1130-1140). - Church, 15th - 17th centuries, containing an historic organ of L.A. Clicquot (1735).