Yvelines
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 Northern
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 ...
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 ...
, on the left bank of the River Seine, on the departmental border with
Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the ÃŽle-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...
. In 2019, Bougival had a population of 8,790.
As the site where many of the Impressionists (including
Claude Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...
,
Alfred Sisley
Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedic ...
, Berthe Morisot and Auguste Renoir) painted country scenes along the Seine, the town today hosts a series of six historical placards, known as the "Impressionists Walk", at locations from which the noted painters depicted the scenes of Bougival.
Bougival is also noted as the site of the Machine de Marly, a sprawling, complicated hydraulic pumping device that began supplying the massive quantity of water required by the fountains at
Palace 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 ...
in the late 17th century. Considered one of the foremost engineering accomplishments of its era, the cacophonous, breakdown-prone apparatus comprised fourteen waterwheels (approximately 38 feet in diameter) driven by the current of the Seine — in turn powering more than 250 pumps, delivering water up a 500-foot vertical rise through a series of pumping stations, holding tanks, reservoirs, pipes and mechanical linkages. In use until 1817, the machine was subsequently updated, replaced with another pumping building in 1858 and finally replaced by an electrical generator in 1963. The building itself remained until 1968. Remnants are visible today at the riverbank.
In Bougival,
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', w ...
'' at his home on Rue Ivan Tourguenievf on the Seine, close to where Russian novelist and playwright
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...
had a
dacha
A dacha (Belarusian, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of former Soviet Union, post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ...
built, named Les Frênes (current-day Villa Viardot). A local monument commemorates the
Montgolfier brothers
The Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (; 26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (; 6 January 1745 – 2 August 1799) – were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers from the Communes o ...
, pioneers of flight; the commune hosts the annual ''Festival of Bougival et des Coteaux de Seine.''
History
In the 19th century, Bougival emerged as a fashionable suburb of Paris.
Pauline Viardot
Pauline Viardot (; 18 July 1821 – 18 May 1910) was a French dramatic mezzo-soprano, composer and pedagogue of Spanish descent. Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline GarcÃa,FitzLyon, p. 15, referring to the baptismal name. Thbirth recorddigitized a ...
had a villa there, as did her paramour
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...
, who died in the town in 1883. Bougival was also known as the "Cradle of
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
" during the
Belle Époque
The Belle Époque () or La Belle Époque () was a period of French and European history that began after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the Fr ...
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French people, French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionism, Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially femininity, fe ...
, and Sisley among others painted the light, sky, and water of this area. Alexandre Dumas, fils set parts of his
novel
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
British School of Paris
The British School of Paris (BSP) is a coeducational private day school in Croissy-sur-Seine, France, in Paris' western suburbs.
Numbering approximately 600 pupils aged between 3 and 18, it is the only British School Overseas in France accredi ...
(formerly the English School of Paris) was located in Bougival up until 2008. Prior to the English School, it was a Catholic all-girls school called Marymount in the 1960s. It was reported that the Germans occupied the estate during World War II, along with the nuns that lived there, due to the estate's vantage point of the Seine River.
Rennequin Sualem
Demographics
Transport
Bougival is served by Bougival station on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line. This station is located at the border between the commune of Bougival and the commune of La Celle-Saint-Cloud, on the La Celle-Saint-Cloud side of the border.
Two multiple locks on the River Seine are located in Bougival.
Croissy-sur-Seine
Croissy-sur-Seine (, literally ''Croissy on Seine'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the ÃŽle-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. It is a suburban town on the western o ...
* Collège Victor Hugo - La Celle-Saint-Cloud
* Collège Pasteur - La Celle-Saint-Cloud
* Collège Pierre et Marie Curie -
Le Pecq
Le Pecq () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the ÃŽle-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the center of Paris.
Geography
The commune of Le Pecq is located in a loop of the Se ...
Rennequin Sualem, inventor of the Marly Machine, died in Bougival in 1708.
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...
died in Bougival in 1883, as well as
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', w ...
in 1875.
Pauline Viardot
Pauline Viardot (; 18 July 1821 – 18 May 1910) was a French dramatic mezzo-soprano, composer and pedagogue of Spanish descent. Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline GarcÃa,FitzLyon, p. 15, referring to the baptismal name. Thbirth recorddigitized a ...
Michel Rocard
Michel Rocard (; 23 August 1930 – 2 July 2016) was a French politician and a member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS). He served as Prime Minister of France, Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 199 ...
Neymar
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...
Alfred Sisley
Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedic ...
in 1876
File:Dance-At-Bougival.jpg, '' Dance at Bougival'', painted by
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French people, French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionism, Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially femininity, fe ...
in 1882-1883
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 ...