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. ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019, Sceaux had a population of 20,004.
, measuring . The original ''château'' was transformed into a School of Agriculture during the
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
and lost much of its luster. It was demolished at the beginning of the 19th century following its sale by the then French government. Sceaux castle was originally built by
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...
, the minister of finance to
Louis XIV
, 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 Ve ...
and purchased by Louis' illegitimate son, the Duke of Maine in 1699. His duchesse held court in a glittering
salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon ...
at Sceaux in the first decades of the eighteenth century.
The present-day château, rebuilt between 1856 and 1862 in a Louis XIII style, is now the museum of
open for visits.
Housing costs are extremely high, higher than in many districts of the Paris area, especially with streets facing the Parc de Sceaux. Sceaux is one of the richest cities of France, according to definition of a city provided by the INSEE.
Transport
Sceaux is served by three stations on Paris RER line B: Sceaux, Robinson, and Parc de Sceaux. The latter station is located at the border between the commune of Sceaux and the commune of
Antony Antony may refer to:
* Antony (name), a masculine given name and a surname
* Antony, Belarus, a village in the Hrodna Voblast of Belarus
* Antony, Cornwall, a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom
** Antony House, Cornwall, United Kingdom
* Antony, ...
, on the Antony side of the border. It is also close to Paris-Orly Airport.
Sceaux is connected to the A86 motorway that circles around Paris. The commune also offers a developed network of
buses
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for ...
Marie Curie
Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first ...
was named after the famous scientist who was married in, lived in, and was originally interred in Sceaux with her husband
Pierre Curie
Pierre Curie ( , ; 15 May 1859 – 19 April 1906) was a French physicist, a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity, and radioactivity. In 1903, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, Marie Curie, and Henri Becq ...
middle school
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...
Jean Giraudoux
Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II.
His work ...
independent films
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...
and hosting special events. In 2006, a debate revolving around ecology was organized and Al Gore's ''
An Inconvenient Truth
''An Inconvenient Truth'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former Vice President of the United States, United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate people about global warming. The film featur ...
'' was shown.
Various music events take place at Sceaux. The classical Music Festival established by
Alfred Loewenguth
Alfred Loewenguth (15 June 1911 – 11 November 1983) was a 20th-century French classical violinist.
Biography
Loewenguth began learning the violin at age 8 and had his first student at 12. At 16, he entered the Conservatoire de Paris and starte ...
in 1969 (in 2010 entering its 41st season), takes place in the
Orangery
An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very larg ...
built by
Jules Hardouin-Mansart
Jules Hardouin-Mansart (; 16 April 1646 – 11 May 1708) was a French Baroque architect and builder whose major work included the Place des Victoires (1684–1690); Place Vendôme (1690); the domed chapel of Les Invalides (1690), and the Grand ...
for the Marquis de Seignelay in 1686, in the Park at Sceaux.The Orangery Festival /ref> The Park also houses an open air opera every summer at the end of June.
The Parc de Sceaux was the location of Madonna's Parisian first visit with her Who's That Girl World Tour 29 August 1987, front 131,000 people, the largest crowd of any concert in French history.
In the classic French O-Level textbook series for English-speaking pupils, ''Le Francais d'Aujourd-hui'', the Bertillon family move out to Sceaux from inner-city Paris during the course of the book's main narrative.
Wildlife
The Parc de Sceaux is home to a population of red squirrels estimated to number between 100 and 120.
Twin towns
*
Royal Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...