Maisons-Laffitte () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

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 Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in the northern

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

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 and t ...

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 a part of the affluent outer suburbs of northwestern

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. S ...

, from its

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. In 2018, it had a population of 23,611. Maisons-Laffitte is famous for the Château de Maisons-Laffitte, built by architect

François Mansart François Mansart (; 23 January 1598 – 23 September 1666) was a French architect credited with introducing classicism into Baroque architecture of France. The '' Encyclopædia Britannica'' cites him as the most accomplished of 17th-century Fr ...

in the 17th century. Maisons-Laffitte is also known for its

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

track, the

Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse The Hippodrome de Maisons-Laffitte at 1 avenue de la Pelouse in the northwestern Parisian suburb of Maisons-Laffitte in France was a grass, turf horse racing facility and Hippodrome, track for Thoroughbred flat racing. Opened in 1878 by Joseph Olle ...

, which is why the town is known as the "cité du cheval" and compared with Newmarket in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

History

Originally called Maisons-sur-Seine (meaning "Houses upon

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

"), the commune was officially renamed Maisons-Laffitte in 1882 in honour of banker

Jacques Laffitte Jacques Laffitte (24 October 1767 – 26 May 1844) was a leading French banker, governor of the Bank of France (1814–1820) and liberal member of the Chamber of Deputies during the Bourbon Restoration and July Monarchy. He was an important fi ...

who financed the housing developments on the estate of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte. The Château de Maisons-Laffitte has a

secret passage Secret passages, also commonly referred to as hidden passages or secret tunnels, are hidden routes used for stealthy travel, escape, or movement of people and goods. They are sometimes inside buildings leading to secret rooms. Others allow peop ...

to what once used to be part of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte but which is now a school - Collège de l'Ermitage.

Population

Transport

Maisons-Laffitte is served by Maisons-Laffitte station on Paris RER line A and on the

Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare is one of the sectors in the Paris Transilien suburban rail network. The trains on this sector depart from Gare Saint-Lazare in central Paris and serve the north and north-west of Île-de-France region with Transilien ...

suburban rail line.

Notable residents

Pape-Philippe Amagou Pape-Philippe Amagou (born February 27, 1985) is a French-born Ivorian retired basketball player. During his career, he played for several teams in France and Greece and was a member of the Côte d'Ivoire national basketball team. He is a four-t ...

, basketball player *

Grégory Baugé Grégory Baugé (born 31 January 1985) is a French professional racing cyclist. Early life Bauge first took up sport at the age of eight, playing football. His father enrolled him in the Aubergenville cycling school. At that time he took part ...

, cyclist *

Eugène Louis Bouvier Eugène Louis Bouvier (9 April 1856, in Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvaux – 14 January 1944, in Paris) was a French entomologist and carcinologist. Bouvier was a professor at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. Biography Following graduation at ...

, zoologist *

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

, writer, filmmaker, and artist *

Jerzy Giedroyc Jerzy Władysław Giedroyc (; 27 July 1906 – 14 September 2000) was a Polish writer and political activist and for many years editor of the highly influential Paris-based periodical, ''Kultura''. Early life Giedroyć was born into a Polish-Li ...

, founder and editor of a leading Polish-émigré literary-political journal, ''

Kultura ''Kultura'' (, ''Culture'')—sometimes referred to as ''Kultura Paryska'' ("Paris-based Culture")—was a leading Polish-émigré literary-political magazine, published from 1947 to 2000 by ''Instytut Literacki'' (the Literary Institute), ini ...

'' *

Philippe Jaroussky Philippe Jaroussky (born 13 February 1978) is a French countertenor. He began his musical career with the violin, winning an award at the Versailles conservatory, and then took up the piano before turning to singing. Unusually for a countertenor ...

, opera singer *

Coralie Lassource Coralie Gladys Lassource (born 1 September 1992) is a French handball player for Brest Bretagne HB and the French national team. She competed at the 2015 World Women's Handball Championship in Denmark. Individual awards *French Championship ...

, handball player *

René Le Roy René Le Roy (; 4 March 1898 – 3 January 1985) sometimes spelled René LeRoy, was a French 20th-century flutist and a pedagogue. Biography René Le Roy was born in 1898 in Maisons-Laffitte. His parents were both amateur musicians, his father ...

(1898 – 1985), classical flautist *

Odd Nerdrum Odd Nerdrum (born 8 April 1944) is a Norwegian figurative painter, born in Sweden, and considered to be one of the greatest living classical figurative painters. His work is held by museums worldwide. Themes and style in Nerdrum's work referenc ...

, painter *

Randy de Puniet Randy de Puniet (born 14 February 1981) is a road racer of motorcycles from France. He competed in Grands Prix racing between 1998 and 2014, where he achieved five wins in the 250cc class. He also competed in the Superbike World Championship d ...

, motorcycle racer *

Anne Queffélec Anne Queffélec (born 17 January 1948) is a French classical pianist, born in Paris. Biography Anne Queffélec is the daughter of Henri Queffélec and sister of Yann Queffélec, both noted writers. Her brother Hervé Queffélec is a mathema ...

, pianist *

Emma Watson Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is an English actress and activist. Known for her roles in both blockbusters and independent films, as well as for her women's rights work, she has received a selection of accolades, includi ...

(until the age of 5), actress *

James Winkfield James Winkfield (April 12, c. 1880–1882 – March 23, 1974) was a Thoroughbred jockey and horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are ca ...

, jockey, horse trainer *

Ghislaine Maxwell Ghislaine Noelle Marion Maxwell ( ; born 25 December 1961) is a British convicted sex offender and former socialite. In 2021, she was found guilty of child sex trafficking and other offences in connection with the financier and convicted sex o ...

, British socialite known for her association with financier and underage sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein

Education

Public schools:Liste des établissements

See the attendance boundaries
/ref> * Six preschools/nurseries (''maternelles''): Bois-Bonnet, Clos-Lainé, Cocteau, Colbert, La Renarde, Montebello * Four elementary schools: Jehan Alain/André Ledreux, Colbert, Le Prieuré, Mansart * Junior high schools (''collèges''): Jean Cocteau and Le Prieuré * Senior high schools/sixth-form colleges: Lycée Évariste Galois (Sartrouville) and Lycée Les Pierres Vives (Carrières sur Seine) Private schools: *

International School of France The International School of France, or Ermitage, is an international day and boarding school in Maisons-Laffitte, just outside Paris, France. The school was founded in 1941 by Anne-Marie Thommeret, a woman seeking to improve conditions of students ...

/ L'Ermitage (preschool to senior high) * Sainte-Marie (preschool and elementary) * Ecole Montessori Internationale

History

Population

Transport

Notable residents

Education

See also

References

External links