Maisons-Alfort () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of

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 ...

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 ...

. It is located from the center of Paris. Maisons-Alfort is famous as the location of the National Veterinary School of Alfort. The

Fort de Charenton Fort de Charenton is a fortification built in 1842 in the community of Maisons-Alfort, and part of the Paris defences planned by Adolphe Thiers. After the fall of Napoleon I in 1814, and again after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815, Pari ...

, constructed between 1841 and 1845, has since 1959 housed the ''Commandement des Écoles de la

Gendarmerie Nationale Gendarmerie Nationale most commonly refers to: * Gendarmerie Nationale (France) * Gendarmerie Nationale (Belgium), merged with Belgian police in 2001 Gendarmerie Nationale may also refer to: *Gendarmerie Nationale (Algeria) * Gendarmerie National ...

''.

Name

Originally, Maisons-Alfort was called simply Maisons. The name Maisons comes from

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

''Mansiones'', meaning "the houses". At the creation of the commune during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, the name of the hamlet of Alfort was joined with the name of Maisons. The name Alfort comes from the manor built there by Peter of Aigueblanche,

Bishop of Hereford The Bishop of Hereford is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. The episcopal see is centred in the City of Hereford where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is in the Cathedral Church of Sa ...

(

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

), in the middle of the 13th century. The name of this Manor of Hereford was corrupted into ''Harefort'', then ''Hallefort'', and eventually Alfort. The National Veterinary School of Alfort was settled several centuries later in the manor and its estate.

History

On 1 April 1885, 40% of the territory of Maisons-Alfort was detached and became the commune of Alfortville. In 1905,

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years ...

stayed two months in Maisons-Alfort while his famous ''Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show'' performed in Paris.

September 1944 explosion

At 8.39am on 8 September 1944 a

V-2 rocket The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develop ...

landed and killed six people at Charentonneau, launched from Petites-Tailles, near

Houffalize Houffalize (; german: Hohenfels; wa, Oufalijhe) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium.Sven Vrielinck: De territoriale indeling van België 1795-1963 Volume 1. Universitaire Pers Leuven 2000. page 4 ...

, in south-east Belgium by ''Lehr und Versuchsbatterie 444''. This was the first destruction caused by a V-2 rocket. Later that day, a V-2 rocket from

Wassenaar Wassenaar (; population: in ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and Dorp (town), town located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, on the western coast of the Netherlands. An affluent suburb of The ...

in the Netherlands, launched by 485 Artillerie Abteilung at 6.37pm, would hit Staveley Road in west London.

Demographics

The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Maisons-Alfort proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Maisons-Alfort ceded the commune of Alfortville in 1885.

Immigration

Administration

Maisons-Alfort is part of the

arrondissement of Nogent-sur-Marne The arrondissement of Nogent-sur-Marne is an arrondissement of France in the Val-de-Marne departement in the Île-de-France region. It has 14 communes. Its population is 510,395 (2019), and its area is . Composition The communes of the arrondis ...

. It is the only commune of the

canton of Maisons-Alfort The canton of Maisons-Alfort is an administrative division of the Val-de-Marne department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Departmen ...

Points of interest

* École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort *

* Jardin botanique de l'École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort *

Musée Fragonard d'Alfort The Musée Fragonard d'Alfort, often simply the Musée Fragonard, is a museum of anatomical oddities located within the École Nationale Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort, 7 avenue du Général de Gaulle, in Maisons-Alfort, a suburb of Paris. It i ...

Château de Réghat The Château de Réghat is a ''château'' in Maisons-Alfort, Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris m ...

Education

The commune has:Les écoles à Maisons-Alfort
." Maisons-Alfort. Retrieved on September 6, 2016. *13 public preschools (''écoles maternelles'') *12 public elementary schools *Three private preschools and elementary schools: Ecole Privée Notre-Dame, Ecole et collège Privée Sainte-Thérèse *Four public junior high schools: Collège Condorcet, Collège Edouard Herriot, Collège Jules Ferry, Collège Nicolas de Staël *One private elementary and junior high school, Ecole et collège Privée Sainte-Thérèse *Two public senior high schools/sixth-form colleges: Lycée Eugène Delacroix and Lycée Professionnel Paul Bert

Personalities

Tariq Abdul-Wahad Tariq Abdul-Wahad (born Olivier Michael Saint-Jean; November 3, 1974) is a French basketball coach and former player. As Olivier Saint-Jean, he played college basketball at Michigan and San Jose State. In 1997, the Sacramento Kings selected Saint ...

, basketball player * Thomas N'Gijol, comedian *

Ladjie Soukouna Ladjie Soukouna (born 15 December 1990) is a French footballer who plays as a defender and midfielder. He is currently playing for French fifth tier side CO Les Ulis. Soukouna had previously played for the B-team of Créteil for two seasons ...

, footballer *

Nicole Tourneur Nicole Tourneur (9 August 1950 – 14 May 2011) was a French novelist. Biography Born in Maisons-Alfort, Tourneur trained as an accountant. She lived in Mexico. Works For adults * Le dernier soleil * Laurie ou le souffle du papillon, novel ...

, women writer

International relations

Maisons-Alfort is twinned with

Moers Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; archaic Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel. History Known earliest from 1186, the county of Mo ...

in the German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

Transport

Maisons-Alfort is served by three stations on

Paris Métro Line 8 Paris Métro Line 8 (French: ''Ligne 8 du métro de Paris'') is one of the sixteen lines of the Paris Métro. It connects Balard in the southwestern part of Paris to Pointe du Lac station in the southeastern suburbs, following a parabolic rout ...

: École Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort, Maisons-Alfort — Stade, and Maisons-Alfort — Les Juilliottes. It is also served by two stations on Paris RER line D: Maisons-Alfort – Alfortville and Le Vert de Maisons.

References

External links

Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maisonsalfort Communes of Val-de-Marne V-weapons