Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the ÃŽle-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.[department in the ]ÃŽle-de-France
The ÃŽle-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
in north-central France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. It is situated on the left bank of the River Seine
The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...
west of Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. Together with Mézières-sur-Seine and La Falaise, it forms a settlement of around 10,000 inhabitants. Its inhabitants are known as Épônois.
The name comes from the Latin ''Spedona'' and, according to Daniel Bricon,[''Épône racontée aux Épônois'' (cf. Bibliographie).] has no link to Epona
In Gallo-Roman religion, Epona was a protector of horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules. She was particularly a goddess of fertility, as shown by her attributes of a patera, cornucopia, ears of grain, and the presence of foals in some sculpture ...
the Gaulish goddess of horses and protector of horseriders.
Geography
Situated in the north west of Yvelines at the confluence of the rivers Mauldre
The Mauldre () is a 35 km long river in France. It is a left tributary of the Seine. Its basin area is about 410 square kilometres, which covers 66 municipalities corresponding to 400 000 inhabitants. Its source elevation is 135 m. The Mauldr ...
and Seine, Épône is located in the Mantois at around 10 kilometres to the east of Mantes-la-Jolie
Mantes-la-Jolie (, often informally called Mantes) is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the ÃŽle-de-France Regions of France, region of north-central France. It is located to the west of Paris, f ...
and 36 kilometres north west of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of ÃŽle-de-France, ÃŽle-de-France region in Franc ...
.
The commune is bordered by Gargenville to the north (on the opposite bank of the Seine), Aubergenville and La Falaise to the east, Maule to the south east, Jumeauville and Goussonville to the south west, and Mézières-sur-Seine to the west.
The commune is relatively large, covering 1300 hectares in total. It consists of three main parts.
* The south: limestone plateaus, at an altitude of around 130 metres, mainly used for growing crops. The hamlet of Vélannes is also found here.
* The north: the river valley at an altitude of around 20 metres, used for agriculture, and transport links, as well as housing around the railway.
* Centre: the old town, situated on the hillside around the tenth century church.
Climate
Épône has a temperate climate of oceanic
Oceanic may refer to:
*Of or relating to the ocean
*Of or relating to Oceania
**Oceanic climate
**Oceanic languages
**Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)"
Places
* Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...
type that is typical of the Ile-de-France region. The average temperatures vary between 2-5 °C in January to 14-25 °C in July. Annual rainfall is relatively low at around 600 millimetres per year, with October to January the rainiest months.
Land usage
The majority of the commune is essentially rural (74%), with urban space accounting for around 20% of the total.
The town area falls into three main groups; the old walled town, the Vélannes hamlet and the
Élisabethville area in the alluvial plain. The urban area is more developed at the eastern end of the commune at the edge of the hamlet of Villeneuve (Mézières), and an additional hamlet of around a dozen homes in the area known as "Canada" at the southern end.
Épône includes a part (1500 out of the 4000 inhabitants) of the "garden city" of Élisabethville. Created in the 1920s and named after the then queen of Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, the area became popular among Parisians looking to escape the city during the ''années folles'' for its beach on the banks of the Seine, its casino
A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...
and 18-hole golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
course. It retains one of the first churches built from reinforced concrete, built in 1928 by the architect Paul Tournon and dedicated to Saint Theresa.
The majority of the houses (~75% ) are detached, but there are also around 600 homes in collective housing in the town centre, mainly council housing from the 1960s to accommodate employees of the Renault
Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...
factory.
Economic activity centres around the railway station in an industrial zone bordering the motorway and the RD133 road.
Rural land is principally given to agriculture, with wooded land occupying an additional 20% (primarily the Lourdet and Étibot woods in the south of the commune). There is also a small lake in the Seine valley near Élisabethville on the site of a former gravel pit now converted to a nature reserve.
Population
Culture
People linked with Épône
* Hérault de Séchelles (1759–1794), former lord of Épône, representative of Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise () is a former department of France, which encompassed the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its prefecture was Versailles and its administrative number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was disbanded in ...
in the National Convention
The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...
, beheaded in 1794, and author of ''Théorie de l'ambition, codicille politique pratique d’un jeune habitant d’Épône''
* Alphonse Durand (1814–1882), architect. Died in Épône on August 4, 1882.
* Émile Sergent (1867–1943), professor of medicine, president of the Académie de médecine and director of Boucicaut Hospital, Paris during the Second World War.
/ref> between 2004 and 2007.
Twin towns
* "Sponsorship" of Doïna-Girov, Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
organised by "Les Amis de Doïna Girov" to provide humanitarian help to the Romanian village.
* Prokuplje
Education
*Schools :
**Three nursery schools: Les Pervenches, Les Lavandes, Les Perce-Neiges (Élisabethville),
**Three primary schools: Jean de la Fontaine, Blaise Pascal, Louis Pasteur (Élisabethville).
**Secondary school: Benjamin Franklin (opened 1982), home to 600 pupils from neighbouring communes Épône, Mézières-sur-Seine and La Falaise. Its name is derived from the fact that Franklin stayed in Épône when he was Ambassador in France.
Pupils usually then move to the Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
lycée
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...
at Aubergenville.
See also
*Communes of the Yvelines department
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes o ...
References
Bibliography
* Bardy Monique, ''La grande histoire des Yvelines'', Édijac, 1989, .
* Bricon Daniel, ''Épône raconté aux Épônois, histoire d'une petite ville de l'ouest parisien'', Édition ville d'Épône, 2002 (2nd edition), .
* Lachiver Marcel, ''Histoire de Mantes et du Mantois à travers chroniques et mémoires des origines à 1792'', Meulan, 1971.
* Monographie de la commune d'Épône, Archives départementale des Yvelines, 1899.
* ''Mantes et son arrondissement'', Victor Bourselet et Henri Clérisse, distribution : Société française du Livre, Mantes, 1933.
* ''L'église Saint-Béat d'Épône'', Centre de recherches archéologiques de la région mantaise, special bulletin, 2007.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Epone
Communes of Yvelines