Houdan () is a commune of the Yvelines department west of Paris in the north of

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 ...

History

The name has evolved from the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

"Hoding," meaning "settlement on the hill". Houdan is thought to have been inhabited since the 5th century. By the 12th century, two churches and a château were present. During the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

, the town changed hands and was pillaged frequently. The town was destroyed; only the 12th century keep survives from that period. After the war, the town was ruled by the English until 1475. Houdan is mentioned in the Prophecies of Nostradamus. Houdan was a staging post on the road from Paris to

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, and many old inns are still standing. Houdan was also an important

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, a ...

market for Paris and a breed is named after the town. The breed is ornamental, but is also used for its meat and white eggs. It is the site of the Boldoflorine factory which over the years had transformed from

absinthe Absinthe (, ) is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of ''Artemisia absinthium'' ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. Historical ...

distillery to producer of herbal remedies and tisanes. In the 2000s the factory was converted to residential use.

Infrastructure

It is on the

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

train line between

Alençon station Alençon is a railway station in Alençon, Normandy, France. The station opened on 15 March 1856 and is located on the Le Mans–Mézidon railway line. The station is served by TER (local) services operated by SNCF The Société nationale de ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, and the

Gare Montparnasse Gare Montparnasse (; Montparnasse station), officially Paris-Montparnasse, one of the six large Paris railway termini, is located in the 14th and 15th arrondissements. The station opened in 1840, was rebuilt in 1852 and relocated in 1969 to ...

in Paris. It is on the

route nationale 12 The Route nationale 12, or RN12, is a trunk road ( nationale) in France connecting Paris with Brittany. The road forms part of European route E50. It is approximately long. History Until the 1950s, the RN 12 followed a different itinerary betwe ...

connecting Paris with

, which once passed through, but now bypasses, the town.

Attractions

* Vestiges of the old town wall fortifications, including a

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

built around 1135. * Houses of the 15th and 16th centuries. * Church, 15th - 17th centuries,

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 ...

style containing an organ (1735), and a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

-style choir.

International relations

Houdan is twinned with: * Pangbourne, United Kingdom * Baïla, Sénégal

References

External links

Houdan website
Communes of Yvelines {{Yvelines-geo-stub