Essonne
Essonne () is a department of France in the southern Île-de-France region. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659 across 194 communes.department in
Île-de-France
The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...
in northern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. It is located in the southwestern suburbs of
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, from the centre of Paris.
A fortified location of the Chevreuse valley since the 8th century and agricultural domain of wealthy and influential people, the development of Orsay is marked by the introduction of a
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
in the second half of the 18th century (today the
RER B
RER B is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris, France and its Île-de-France suburbs. The RER B line crosses the region from no ...
of which two stations are located in Orsay) and donations which allow the construction of a hospital still active to this day.
Orsay is the main home to the Paris-Saclay University. The university significantly shapes Orsay's economy as it employs about 10,000 academic workers. The city's economy is also centered on high technology, with several companies drawn to the area by the Paris-Saclay's research and development infrastructure.
Seat of the Orsay campus of Paris-Saclay University, crossed by the 118 national road, Orsay has become a residential city of the Paris metropolitan area and the Chevreuse valley, easily accessible and with a preserved
environment
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally
* Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
at the heart of the Paris-Saclay scientific cluster with laboratories of the
CNRS
The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe.
In 2016, it employed 31,63 ...
There has been a village called Orsay on this site since 999, and the first church there was built in 1157. From the sixteenth century, the town and surrounding area were owned by the Boucher family, and it was in honour of this family that
Louis XIV
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
gave the '' quai d'Orsay'' its name. This is the reason that the
Musée d'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French a ...
is not in Orsay. In the eighteenth century, the family of Grimod du Fort bought the land and received the title of comte d'Orsay.
In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian war, Orsay was occupied by the Prussian army.
88 young "Orcéens" were killed in the First World War.
In 1957, largely due to the influence of
Frédéric
Frédéric and Frédérick are the French versions of the common male given name Frederick. They may refer to:
In artistry:
* Frédéric Back, Canadian award-winning animator
* Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor
* Frédéric Bazille, Impres ...
and
Irène Joliot-Curie
Irène Joliot-Curie (; ; 12 September 1897 – 17 March 1956) was a French chemist, physicist and politician, the elder daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie, and the wife of Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Jointly with her husband, Joliot-Curie was awar ...
, the Institut de physique nucléaire (nuclear physics institute) was opened in the Chevreuse valley, and the region, especially Orsay, became an important scientific centre. Another development was the creation of the University of Paris-Sud, whose most important faculty is the faculty of science.
On 19 February 1977, a part of the territory of Orsay was detached and merged with a part of the territory of Bures-sur-Yvette to create the commune of Les Ulis.
Palaiseau
Palaiseau () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Palaiseau is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department and the seat of the Arrondissement of Palaiseau.
Inhabitants of Palaiseau ar ...
Palaiseau
Palaiseau () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Palaiseau is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department and the seat of the Arrondissement of Palaiseau.
Inhabitants of Palaiseau ar ...
*
Villebon-sur-Yvette
Villebon-sur-Yvette (, literally ''Villebon on Yvette'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France, about 20 kilometers south of Paris.
Thanks to the presence of the business centers of Courtaboeuf and Grand ...
catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
es which depend on the
diocese
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...
deanery
A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or reside ...
of Yvette-Gif-Orsay. The parish of Ulis-Montdétour-Montjay serves the neighborhood of Montdétour, bois du Roi and bois Persan, while the parish of Orsay serves the rest of the city. These parishes have the main
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chri ...
of Saint-Martin-Saint-Laurent, the
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...
of la Clarté-Dieu and the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-la-Plaine at Mondétour.
Additionally, the city has a Portugueseevangelical parish and an international evangelical church: the église évangélique vie et paix.
A
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
Khuông Viêt
pagoda
A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...
is also located in the city.
Civil heritage
Forested areas
*The Bois des Rames around the university campus
*The Bois Persan
*
Parc botanique de Launay
The Parc botanique de Launay (90 hectares), sometimes known as the Parc botanique d'Orsay or the Parc de l'Université Paris XI, is a botanical garden located on the Université Paris-Sud XI campus at 3 rue Georges-Clemenceau, Orsay, Essonne, Î ...
Architecture
*la Grande Bouvêche
*la Pacaterie
*le Temple de la Gloire
*le château de Corbeville
British Union of Fascists
The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, f ...
* Lady
Diana Mosley
Diana, Lady Mosley (''née'' Freeman-Mitford; 17 June 191011 August 2003) was one of the Mitford sisters. In 1929 she married Bryan Walter Guinness, heir to the barony of Moyne, with whom she was part of the Bright Young Things social group o ...
, one of the
Mitford sisters
The Mitford family is an aristocratic English family, whose principal line had its seats at Mitford, Northumberland. Several heads of the family served as High Sheriff of Northumberland. A junior line, with seats at Newton Park, Northumberlan ...
and wife of Sir Oswald Mosley
* Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, later Duke of Windsor after abdicating the throne and marrying American divorcee Wallis Simpson
*
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...