Maisons-Laffitte
Encyclopedia
Maisons-Laffitte is 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 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...

. It is located in the north-western suburbs 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...

 18.2 km (11.3 mi) from the center
Kilometre Zero
In many countries, Kilometre Zero or similar terms in other languages, is a particular location , from which distances are traditionally measured...

.

Maisons-Laffitte is famous for the Château de Maisons-Laffitte, built by architect François Mansart
François Mansart
François Mansart was a French architect credited with introducing classicism into Baroque architecture of France...

 in the 17th century. Maisons-Laffitte 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 Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse
Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse
The Hippodrome de Maisons-Laffitte at 1 avenue de la Pelouse in the northwestern Parisian suburb of Maisons-Laffitte in France is a turf horse racing facility and track for Thoroughbred flat racing...

, which is why the town is known as the "cité du cheval" and is compared with Newmarket in the UK.

History

Originally called Maisons-sur-Seine (meaning "Maisons upon Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...

"), the commune was officially renamed Maisons-Laffitte in 1882 in honor of banker Jacques Laffitte
Jacques Laffitte
Jacques Laffitte was a French banker and politician.-Biography:Laffitte was born at Bayonne, one of the ten children of a carpenter....

 who financed the housing developments on the estate of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte.

The Château de Maisons-Laffitte has a secret passage to what once used to be part of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte but which is now a school - Collège de l'Ermitage.

Transport

Maisons-Laffitte is served by Maisons-Laffitte
Maisons-Laffitte (SNCF)
Maisons-Laffitte is a railway station serving Maisons-Laffitte, a northwestern suburb of Paris, France. It is situated on the Paris–Le Havre railway.-See also:* List of stations of the Paris RER...

 station on Paris RER line A
RER A
The RER A is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line runs from the western terminuses Saint-Germain-en-Laye , Cergy Le Haut , and Poissy to the eastern terminuses Boissy-Saint-Léger and Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy .* First inauguration: 12 December 1969*...

 and on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare
Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare
Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare is one of the sectors in the Paris Transilien suburban rail network. The trains on this sector depart from Gare Saint-Lazare in central Paris, as well as from Noisy-le-Roi station in the suburbs. Transilien services from Paris – Saint-Lazare are part of the SNCF...

 suburban rail line.

Notable residents

  • Pape-Philippe Amagou
    Pape-Philippe Amagou
    Pape-Philippe Amagou is a Côte d'Ivoirean-French basketball player currently playing for SLUC Nancy...

     basketball player
  • Grégory Baugé
    Grégory Baugé
    Grégory Baugé is a French professional racing cyclist. He is an eight-time world champion in track cycling.-Career highlights:20022003...

     cyclist
  • Jerzy Giedroyc
    Jerzy Giedroyc
    Jerzy Giedroyc was a Polish writer and political activist....

     founder and editor of a leading Polish-émigré literary-political journal, Kultura
    Kultura
    Kultura , sometimes referred to as "Kultura Paryska", was a leading Polish-émigré literary-political journal, published from 1947 to 2000 by Instytut Literacki , initially in Rome, then Paris....

  • Randy de Puniet
    Randy de Puniet
    Randy de Puniet is a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is currently racing for the Pramac Ducati team in MotoGP, having raced in this class regularly since 2006...

     motorcycle racer
  • Odd Nerdrum
    Odd Nerdrum
    Odd Nerdrum , is a Norwegian figurative painter. Themes and style in Nerdrum's work reference anecdote and narrative, while primary influences by the painters Rembrandt and Caravaggio place his work in direct conflict with the abstraction and conceptual art considered acceptable in much of his...

     painter
  • Philippe Jaroussky
    Philippe Jaroussky
    Philippe Jaroussky is a French sopranist countertenor. He began his musical career with the violin, winning an award at the Versailles conservatory and then took up the piano before turning to singing...

    opera singer

External links

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