Jouars-Pontchartrain () is a 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 ...

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in north-central

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. It is approximately 35 kilometres from Paris. This city is famous for the Château de Pontchartrain.

Geography

The town of Jouars-Pontchartrain is located 35 km west of Paris, 18 km 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 Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

and 22 km from

Rambouillet Rambouillet (, , ) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region of France. It is located beyond the outskirts of Paris, southwest of its Kilometr ...

, on a buttress which delimits the western end of the plain of Versailles and at the foot from which begins the plain of Montfort-l'Amaury. Its territory is irrigated by the Mauldre whose south-north oriented course follows the eastern limit of the town and receives in the park of the Château de Pontchartrain the Élancourt brook, a diversion of which feeds its pond. This brook, oriented east-west, is enlarged a little upstream by the Maurepas brook which joins it at Chennevières.

Hamlets of the municipality

The commune comprises seven hamlets: * Pontchartrain, in the north of the municipal territory, heart of the municipality, where are located, around the town hall, the Saint-Lin church and the Saint-Louis hospital, the majority of local shops and most of housing. * Chennevières, south-east of Pontchartrain and adjoining it. It is a residential and old hamlet, formerly a humid places where the culture of hemp prospered. * La Richarderie, to the east of Chennevières and adjoining it, is a semi-residential, semi-rural hamlet. * Jouars, away to the south of Pontchartrain, has a church and has only a few dwellings and rural farms. * Ergal, in the far east and on the edge of the municipal territory is adjoining the hamlet of Launay in the municipality of Élancourt, half-residential, half-rural. * Les Mousseaux, south of Jouars, on the edge of the municipal territory and adjoining the hamlet of Villeneuve (parc aux Loups) in the municipality of Maurepas, is half-residential, half-rural with a few small craft businesses. * La Dauberie, a very wooded residential area, is on the edge of Saint-Rémy-l'Honoré. The last two hamlets form a kind of enclave between the municipal territories of Maurepas, Coignières, Saint-Rémy-l'Honoré and Le Tremblay-sur-Mauldre.

Population

Monuments

*The Château de Pontchartrain built in the 17th century. It was held for many years by the family Phélypeaux. *St Martin's Church from the 12th century. *St-Lin's church from the beginning of the 20th century. Église Saint-Martin de Jouars-Pontchartrain en 2013 02.jpg, Entrance of St Martin's Church . Jouars-Pontchartrain Église Saint-Lin.JPG, St-Lin's church. The farm of the Ithe, located on the banks of the Mauldre and to the west of the hamlet of Jouars corresponds to an ancient Gallo-Roman settlement called Diodurum or ''Divo durum'', one of the largest secondary settlements recorded in Île-de-France. This site, prospected since the middle of the 20th century. The data show that it occupies an area of approximately 40 ha. The recognized chronological sequence, from the beginning of the 1st century BC to the 5th-6th centuries, and the very good preservation of the archaeological levels associated with a humid context make it an exceptional site. The settlement developed in the valley of La Mauldre, at the crossroads of several roads leading to other Gallo-Roman settlements: Le Vieil-Évreux, Dreux, Chartres, Orléans, Sens, Paris, Beauvais. It is a ''

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...

'' as attested by a fragment of an inscription. As a large crossroad located on the borders of the territory of the

Carnutes The Carnutes or Carnuti (Gaulish: 'the horned ones'), were a Gallic tribe dwelling in an extensive territory between the Sequana (Seine) and the Liger (Loire) rivers during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Carn ...

, near Belgian Gaul and possessing pre-urban characteristics, this vicus is one of the assumptions for the consecrated place of the

druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...

s assembly mentioned by Caesar.

Twin towns

* Hammond,

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Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

References

Communes of Yvelines {{Yvelines-geo-stub