Le Vésinet () is a suburban 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 ...

. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of western

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 centre of Paris. Le Vésinet is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Paris, known for its wooded avenues, mansions and lakes. It contains many public gardens designed by French landscape gardener Paul de Lavenne, comte de Choulot.

History

The commune of Le Vésinet was created on 31 May 1875 by detaching a part of the territory of

Chatou Chatou () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. Chatou is a part of the affluent suburbs of western Paris and is on the northwest ...

and merging it with a part of the territory of

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 Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. It is a suburban town on the western o ...

and a part of the territory of

Le Pecq Le Pecq () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-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 ...

. In

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

and from

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

, the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

began in Le Vésinet.

Geography

Le Vésinet is located in a bend of the

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 ...

, but has no access to the river. It is 16.4 km (10.2 mi) west of

and 4 km east of

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. ...

. The surrounding communes are

on the east,

on the south,

on the west, and Montesson on the north. The terrain is an alluvial plain ranging in altitude from 28 meters near Le Pecq to 45 meters at the end of the ''Route de Montesson'', with a gentle slope from northeast to southwest. The commune is entirely urbanized, principally with single-family dwellings. Green space comprises 20 percent of the territory. There are a number of lakes: the ''lac Supérieur'', the ''lac Inférieur'', the ''lac de la Station'', the ''lac de Croissy'', and the ''Grand lac'' (with a large central island, ''l'Île des Ibis'') also called ''Lac des Ibis''. These lakes are linked by nearly 4 km of artificial streams called ''les Petites Rivières''.

Population

Sights

Le Vésinet was the first "ville-parc" to be built in France. It has many green spaces, lakes, and lavish mansions. The following are notable buildings: *L'hôpital du Vésinet (72 avenue de la Princesse), built by Eugène Laval in 1859 *Sainte-Marguerite (place de l'Eglise), built by Louis-Auguste Boileau from 1862 to 1865, the first non-industrial building in France built of concrete *Villa Berthe ou La Hublotière (72 route de Montesson), built by

Hector Guimard Hector Guimard (, 10 March 1867 – 20 May 1942) was a French architect and designer, and a prominent figure of the Art Nouveau style. He achieved early fame with his design for the Castel Beranger, the first Art Nouveau apartment building i ...

in 1896. *Pink Palace (12 rue Diderot), built on the model of the Grand Trianon in

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 ...

by Arthur Schweitzer about 1900 *Wood Cottage (122 boulevard des Etats-Unis), classified as a historic monument in 2000. Built in 1864 by Tricotel, a landscaping firm. *Villa Olivia (12 avenue Rembrandt) built by Pierre-Joseph Olive *Sainte-Pauline, built in 1905 Since 1997, Le Vésinet has received the ultimate distinction of four flowers in the national competition for ''villes fleuries''.

Transport

Le Vésinet is served by two stations on Paris RER line A: Le Vésinet – Centre and Le Vésinet – Le Pecq.

Education

The following public schools are in Le Vésinet: Preschools: *Ecole maternelle Centre *Ecole maternelle Charmettes *Ecole maternelle La Borde *Ecole maternelle Princesse *Ecole maternelle Les Cygnes Elementary schools: *Ecole élémentaire Merlettes *Ecole élémentaire Pallu *Ecole élémentaire Pasteur *Ecole élémentaire Princesse Secondary schools: *Collège du Cèdre (junior high school) *

Lycée Alain Lycée Alain is a senior high school/sixth form college in Le Vésinet, Yvelines, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. It is named after Émile Chartier Émile-Auguste Chartier (; 3 March 1868 – 2 June 1951), commonly known as Alain (), w ...

(senior high school/sixth form college) Private schools: * Bon-Sauveur (preschool through senior high school) * Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc (preschool and elementary school) * Sainte-Odile (preschool and elementary school) * Ecole Saint-Charles (elementary school) International school: * Malherbe International School (nursery through middle school) Le Vésinet is served by the Bibliothèque intercommunale du Vésinet, a library.Bibliothèque intercommunale du Vésinet
" Le Vésinet. Retrieved on September 2, 2016.

Twin towns – sister cities

Le Vésinet is twinned with: * Oakwood, United States * Outremont (Montreal), Canada *

Unterhaching Unterhaching (; Central Bavarian: ''Haching'') is the second largest municipality in the district of Munich in Bavaria, Germany, located to the south of Munich city centre and easily accessible via two federal motorways, Bundesautobahn 8 and Bunde ...

, Germany * Villanueva de la Cañada, Spain *

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

, England, United Kingdom Le Vésinet also has friendly relations with

Hunters Hill Hunters Hill is a suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Hunters Hill is located north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government in Australia, local ...

in Australia.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vesinet Communes of Yvelines