Le Chesnay () is a former commune in the

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.department in the

Île-de-France The Île-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 ...

. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune

Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt () is a communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, in the department of Yvelines. It was established on 1 January 2019 from the amalgamation of the communes of Le Chesnay and Rocquencourt, Yvelines, Roc ...

. It is located in the western suburbs 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 ...

, from the center of Paris.

History

On 1 July 1815,

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

Grande Armée The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...

fought its last battle in

Rocquencourt Rocquencourt refers to two places in France: * Rocquencourt, Yvelines Rocquencourt () is a former commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Le Chesna ...

and Le Chesnay. After the defeat of

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

on 18 June 1815, Grouchy's army withdrew to

via

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

and

Dinant Dinant () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Namur Province, province of Namur, Belgium. On the shores of river Meuse, in the Ardennes, it lies south-east of Brussels, south ...

, reaching Paris on 29 June, a few days before the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

ns, who camped at

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 Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. While negotiating the final

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

, Exelmans was ordered to attack the Prussians at

on 1 July 1815. Under attack the Prussians retreated from Versailles and headed east, but were blocked by the French at Vélizy. They failed to re-enter Versailles and headed for

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...

. Their first squadron came under fire at the entrance of Rocquencourt and attempted to escape through the fields. They were forced into a small, narrow street in Le Chesnay and killed or captured. However, the main body of the Prussian army succeeded in reaching Saint-Germain. (Fro
Presentation of Rocquencourt

Transport

Le Chesnay is not served by any station of the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...

, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest station to Le Chesnay is Versailles – Rive Droite station on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line. This station is located in the neighboring city of

, from the town center of Le Chesnay.

Notable residents

Nicolas Anelka Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (born 14 March 1979) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football), forward. As a player, he regularly featur ...

(born 1979),

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

Dora Bianka Dora Bianka (née Dorota Kucembianka; November 6, 1895, or 1896 – September 8, 1979) was a Polish painter and illustrator. She was known for her still life paintings; and landscape painting, particularly of seascapes of the South of France, an ...

(c. 1895–1979) Polish-born painter *

Laura Georges Laura Stéphanie Georges (born 20 August 1984) is a French retired footballer who is the Secretary General of the French Football Federation. She last played for German club Bayern Munich of the Bundesliga, and served as the first-choice captai ...

(born 1984),

Nicolas Godin Nicolas Godin (born 25 December 1969) is a French musician best known for being one half of the music duo Air. Early life Godin was born in Paris, Île-de-France, France, and studied architecture at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architectu ...

(born 1969), member of music group

Air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

Tristan Gommendy Tristan Emmanuel Benoît Gommendy (born 4 January 1979) is a French professional racing driver who last competed in the European Le Mans Series with Duqueine Team. Racing career Early career Born in Le Chesnay, Yvelines, Gommendy began his prof ...

(born 1979), racing driver *

Thomas Lombard Thomas Lombard (born July 5, 1975 in Le Chesnay), is a French rugby union player. Thomas Lombard began playing Rugby Union with Racing but he moved to Stade Français with whom he won four top 14s. After a new title in 2004, he left Paris to pla ...

(born 1975),

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player *

Sébastien Rouault Sébastien Rouault (born 24 February 1986) is a male freestyle swimmer from France, who competed for his native country at the 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially ...

(born 1986),

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

Kevin Staut Kevin Staut (born 15 November 1980) is a French equestrian. His specialty is show jumping, either individually or as part of a team. He has received medals at the Show Jumping French Junior Championships, the Show Jumping European Championship fo ...

(born 1980),

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

Victor Wembanyama Victor Wembanyama ( ; ; born 4 January 2004), nicknamed "Wemby" and "The Alien", is a French professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Considered one of the best basketball prospec ...

(born 2004),

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player

Hospital

* André Mignot Hospital

Education

Public preschools:Les écoles publiques primaires
" Le Chesnay. Retrieved on September 3, 2016. * Maryse Bastié *

Hélène Boucher Hélène Boucher (; 23 May 1908 — 30 November 1934) was a well-known France, French pilot in the early 1930s, when she set several women's world speed records and the all-comers record for 1,000 km (621 mi) in 1934. She was killed in an acciden ...

* Jean-Louis Forain *

Jean de La Fontaine Jean de La Fontaine (, ; ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French Fable, fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''La Fontaine's Fables, Fables'', which provided a model for subs ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , , ; 12 January 162816 May 1703) was a French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales, published in his ...

Public elementary schools: * Guynemer * Langevin * Le Nôtre *

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

Public secondary schools:L'enseignement secondaire public
" Le Chesnay. Retrieved on September 3, 2016. * Collège

Charles Péguy Charles Pierre Péguy (; 7 January 1873 – 5 September 1914) was a French poet, essayist, and editor. His two main philosophies were socialism and nationalism; by 1908 at the latest, after years of uneasy agnosticism, he had become a believing ( ...

- Junior high school * Lycée Jean Moulin - Senior high school/sixth form college The commune is also served by senior high schools/sixth form colleges in

: ,

Lycée Hoche The Lycée Hoche is a public secondary school located in Versailles (city), Versailles, France. Formerly, it had been a nunnery founded by French queen Marie Leszczyńska. However, after the French Revolution, it became a school in 1803. In 1888, ...

, Lycée Marie-Curie, Lycée Jules-Ferry, and Lycée Jacques-Prévert. There is one private school, Blanche de Castille, with a preschool and elementary school campus, and a junior high school and senior high school campus. Universities: *

Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (, ; UVSQ), also known as Paris-Saclay University (), is a French public university created in 1991, located in the Departments of France, department of Yvelines and, since 2002, in Hauts-de-Sein ...

There is also a municipal library, la Bibliothèque du Chesnay.Home
Bibliothèque du Chesnay (Le Chesnay Library). Retrieved on September 3, 2016.

References

External links

Official website
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chesnay Former communes of Yvelines Populated places disestablished in 2019