Buc () is a commune in the

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

of north central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Geography

Buc is located some 20 km south-west of central

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

and 3 km south of

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

. The old town lies in the valley of the River Bièvre at an elevation of around 100 m above sea level. Most of Buc's residential districts have been built on the plateau de Saclay, some 50 m higher. The surrounding

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

are: *

to the north *

Jouy-en-Josas Jouy-en-Josas () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris, from the center of Paris. Jouy-en-Josas is home to the main campus of HEC ...

to the north-east *

Les Loges-en-Josas Les Loges-en-Josas () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. See also *Communes of the Yvelines department An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designe ...

to the south-east *

Toussus-le-Noble Toussus-le-Noble () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. History In 1969, the communes of Châteaufort and Toussus-le-Noble were separated from the Essonne department and added to Yvelin ...

to the south * Châteaufort to the extreme south-west *

Guyancourt Guyancourt () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris, from the center of Paris, in the " new town" of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Geo ...

to the west.

Demography

History

The name Buc derives from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''buscum'' which means

boxwood ''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...

. The inhabitants of Buc are known in French as ''Bucois'' (m.) and ''Bucoises'' (f.). * Territory attached to the domain of Versailles in 1660 and used to be frequented by

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

mostly for hunting. * 1684-1686 : Construction of the Buc aqueduct. * 1880 : Construction of the Fort du Haut-Buc. * 1909, July 25 : Installation of

Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot ( , also , ; 1 July 1872 – 1 August 1936) was a French aviator, inventor, and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of th ...

on 200 hectares; he built his private airfield and, in 1913, a flying school.

Culture

* Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church : Built in

siliceous rock Siliceous rocks are sedimentary rocks that have silica (SiO2) as the principal constituent. The most common siliceous rock is chert; other types include diatomite. They commonly form from silica-secreting organisms such as radiolarians, diatoms, or ...

from the 12th century, enlarged in 1994. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

has a

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

architectural shape and its

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tow ...

has a romanesque style. In the

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religi ...

, the bell, which is classified

Monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a col ...

, has been melted, blessed and then baptized ''Louise Auguste Adélaïde'' by its sponsor

in 1775. * Aqueduc de Buc : Built by

François Michel Le Tellier de Louvois François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King ...

in 1686. This aqueduct purpose was to provide water drained from the Ponds of

Saclay Saclay () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It had a population of 3,067 in 2006. It is best known for the large scientific facility CEA Saclay, mostly dealing with nuclear and pa ...

(more precisely, ''ponds of Saclé'', ''Pont Salé'' and ''Saint-Hubert'' by the time it was used) and delivered to the Domain of the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

, known as well as the

Gardens of Versailles The Gardens of Versailles (french: Jardins du château de Versailles ) occupy part of what was once the ''Domaine royal de Versailles'', the royal demesne of the château of Versailles. Situated to the west of the palace, the gardens cover so ...

, in order to supply huge amounts of water to its multitude of fountains and basins. The aqueduct has 19 millstone arches, is 21 meters high and 580 meters long. Now disused, this great architectural work has been classified

in 1952. * Château du Haut-Buc : This ancient little castle was part of the Grand parc de Versailles (Great Versailles Domain) and was used by

to accommodate his son

Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse Louis Alexandre de Bourbon (6 June 1678 – 1 December 1737), a legitimated prince of the blood royal, was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. At the age of five, he became grand admiral of ...

(1681), duc de Penthièvre (1697), d'Arc, de Châteauvillain and de Rambouillet (1711) which later moved into the Pavillon des Eaux at

Louveciennes Louveciennes () 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, between Versailles and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and adjacent to Marly-le-Roi. Populat ...

. Le Château du Haut-Buc wasdestroyed in 1740 on order of

Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

. The actual castle, the commune property, was rebuilt on the same site in 1864. Today the castle is often used as a showroom as well as a music school. Its park has a playground and a soccer, rugby and basketball pitch . * Fort du Haut-Buc : Made between 1814 and 1880, this

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere ...

used to be part of the second fortified

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

belt of

between 1874 and 1882. This

military building A military building is any structure designed to house functions performed by a military unit. General types include: * Administrative Facilities * Ammunition Storage Facilities * Commissary Facilities * Correctional Facilities * Fortifications * H ...

is currently unaffected and is completely abandoned since 1995. * Near the aqueduct and the

Pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from tha ...

of La Geneste (part of the ponds of La Minière), the Oak of

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

, which is probably more than 500 years old, survived a great storm which occurred in 1999, devastating much of the forest. Unfortunately this emblematic tree collapsed from age in the last week of 2004. Buc's forest is part of the Forêt de Versailles (Versailles forest). * Buc local

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

: Some people assert that

beavers Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

can be observed in La Bièvre whereas nothing really proves the presence of such inhabitants. This river get its name from the

word ''biber'' which means ''beaver'', which explains the legend. But other roots can be found like ''beber'' (meaning "

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model ...

"), which could describe the natural color of the water, or ''bibere'' (''to drink''), which is more than enjoyable on the evening, facing the pond of La Geneste in a peaceful atmosphere with some friends and a good pack of Kronenbourgs. And surprisingly, it is at those moments that beavers are more likely to appear. * A cartoon festival, the Festival de Buc, is held each year since 1994. The comic book of one of the adventures of

Blake and Mortimer ''Blake and Mortimer'' is a Belgian comics series created by the writer and comics artist Edgar P. Jacobs. It was one of the first series to appear in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Tintin'' in 1946, and was subsequently published in boo ...

, '' S.O.S. Meteors: Mortimer in Paris'' (1959) of Edgar P. Jacobs, has its story based in and around Buc. * Buc is the home of one of the three Franco-German high schools and the only one located in France. Franco-German

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

s are issued.

Administration

In 2005, the commune has been rewarded ''« Ville Internet @@ »'' (''« Internet city @@ »'') as well as in 2008 and 2010. This reward is highly decorative under the Buc's entrance street sign.

The department

The

Yvelines Yvelines () is a Departments of France, department in the western part of the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Seine-et-Oise Seine-et-Oise () was the former department of France encompassing the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris.Yvelines Yvelines () is a Departments of France, department in the western part of the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Gaston Palewski Gaston Palewski (20 March 1901 – 3 September 1984), French politician, was a close associate of Charles de Gaulle during and after World War II. He is also remembered as the lover of the English novelist Nancy Mitford, and appears in a fiction ...

, the name of this department at its creation, in reference to the ancient Yveline forest from which radiate most of the water streams that irrigate the department. The actual Foret de Rambouillet (

Rambouillet forest The forest of Rambouillet (french: Forêt de Rambouillet), also known as the forest of Yveline () is a large forest covering some 200 km² (77 square miles), located to the west of Paris, in the Île-de-France region of France. The town of R ...

) constituted its remains.

Transport

Buc is not served by any station of the

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

, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest stations to Buc are Versailles - Chantier station ( gare de Versailles - Chantiers) and Petit Jouy Les Loges station (gare de Petit Jouy - Les Loges). One bus line (Bus 262) links the city to

. It takes 5–15 minutes (If you are located in the Bas-Buc) to 10–30 minutes (if you are located in the Haut-Buc) to reach Versailles - Chantier station depending on the traffic.

Economy

Around 250 businesses are located in Buc.

Education

Schools in Buc include: * Ecole maternelle Pré St-Jean and Ecole élémentaire Pré St-Jean * Ecole maternelle Louis Clément and Ecole élémentaire Louis Clément * Ecole maternelle Louis Blériot and Ecole élémentaire Louis Blériot The sole public junior high school is Collège Martin Luther King, named in honor of slain American civil rights leader

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

DFG / LFA Buc, a joint French-German international school, is in Buc. It was established by the 1963

Élysée Treaty The Élysée Treaty was a treaty of friendship between France and West Germany, signed by President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on 22 January 1963 at the Élysée Palace in Paris. With the signing of this treaty, Germa ...

. Section Internationale Anglophone de Buc is a section of this school.

Twin town

Buc is twinned with: *

Bad Schwalbach Bad Schwalbach (called Langenschwalbach until 1927) is the district seat of Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. Geography Geographic location Bad Schwalbach is a spa town some 20 km northwest of Wiesbaden. It lies at 289 to 465&nb ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

References

External links

*
Buc's town hall official website
*

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110720235451/http://www.recensement.insee.fr/searchResults.action?zoneSearchField=&codeZone=78117-COM Buc's key figures on Insee website {{authority control Communes of Yvelines