Sceaux () 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

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a Departments of France, département in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner Banlieue, suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the e ...

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 southern 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. S ...

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 centre of Paris. In 2019, Sceaux had a population of 20,004.

A wealthy city

Sceaux is famous for the

Château de Sceaux The Château de Sceaux is a grand country house in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, approximately from the centre of Paris, France. Located in a park laid out by André Le Nôtre, visitors can tour the house, outbuildings and gardens. The Petit Château o ...

, set in its large park (''Parc départemental de Sceaux''), designed by

André Le Nôtre André Le Nôtre (; 12 March 1613 – 15 September 1700), originally rendered as André Le Nostre, was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France. He was the landscape architect who designed the gar ...

, 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 Vers ...

and purchased by Louis' illegitimate son, the

Duke of Maine This is a list of counts and dukes of Maine. The capital of Maine was Le Mans. In the thirteenth century it was annexed by France to the royal domain. Dukes of Maine (''duces Cenomannici'') * Charivius (fl. 723) – appears as ''dux'' in a docu ...

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 (P ...

at Sceaux in the first decades of the eighteenth century. The present-day château, rebuilt between 1856 and 1862 in a

Louis XIII style The Louis XIII style or ''Louis Treize'' was a fashion in French art and architecture, especially affecting the visual and decorative arts. Its distinctness as a period in the history of French art has much to do with the Regent, regency under w ...

, is now the museum of

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 ...

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 Robinson may refer to: People and names * Robinson (name) Fictional characters * Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719 Geography * Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 1960 ...

, and

Parc de Sceaux Sceaux () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019, Sceaux had a population of 20,004. A wealthy city Sceaux is famous for the Château de Sceaux ...

. The latter station is located at the border between the commune of Sceaux and the commune of Antony, on the Antony side of the border. It is also close to

Paris-Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly an ...

. 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 cha ...

which are often used by the ''Scéens'' (the name given to the residents of Sceaux).

Population

Education

Primary and secondary schools

The commune has the following primary schools: *Public preschools/nurseries (''maternelles''): des Blagis, du Centre, Clos-Saint-Marcel, du Petit-Chambord *Public elementary schools: des Blagis, du Centre, Clos-Saint-Marcel *One private preschool and elementary school: Écoles maternelle et élémentaire Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc Sceaux hosts two cités scolaires, combined junior high schools and public high schools/sixth-form colleges, the lycée Marie Curie and the lycée Lakanal.Etablissements d’enseignement secondaire et supérieur
" Sceaux. Retrieved on 9 September 2016. The lycée

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 Becqu ...

. The lycée Lakanal was named after a French politician, and an original member of the Institut de France,

Joseph Lakanal Joseph Lakanal (July 14, 1762 – February 14, 1845) was a French politician, and an original member of the ''Institut de France''. Early career Born in Serres, in present-day Ariège, his name was originally ''Lacanal'', and was altered to ...

and has remained one of the most prestigious and hardest schools of Île-de-France. The school also offers a

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. ...

and highly ranked " classes préparatoires" undergraduate training. Famous French scientists and writers have graduated from lycée Lakanal, such as Nobel Prize winners

Maurice Allais Maurice Félix Charles Allais (31 May 19119 October 2010) was a French physicist and economist, the 1988 winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences "for his pioneering contributions to the theory of markets and efficient utilization o ...

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 ...

Alain-Fournier Alain-Fournier () was the pseudonym of Henri-Alban Fournier (3 October 1886 – 22 September 1914Mémoi ...

and

Frédéric Joliot-Curie Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie (; ; 19 March 1900 – 14 August 1958) was a French physicist and husband of Irène Joliot-Curie, with whom he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of Induced radioactivity. T ...

. There is also a public vocational senior high, Lycée des métiers Florian. There is a private junior high school, Externat Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc.

Colleges and universities

The Faculté Jean Monnet, the college of Law and Management of University of Paris-XI (Orsay), the Institut Universitaire de Technologie of this university and L'Ecole Polytechnique Féminine (EPF) are also located in Sceaux.

Public libraries

The Bibliothèque municipale de Sceaux is the communal library.

Cultural life

Sceaux is home to one highly active national theater, the théâtre des Gémeaux, located in the quartier des Blagis which is part of the "Scène Nationale" network of the major theaters in France. The théâtre des Gémeaux attracts audiences from all over Île-de-France and Paris. Its main event is the Spring dance festival with an international program of the highest quality. The commune also has a small movie theater, the Trianon, where international movies are released in their respective language and subtitled in French. The theater is also known for showing

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 Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

's ''

An Inconvenient Truth ''An Inconvenient Truth'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate people about global warming. The film features a slide show that, by Gore's own e ...

'' was shown. Various music events take place at Sceaux. The classical Music Festival established by Alfred Loewenguth 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 large ...

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 T ...

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 Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

's Parisian first visit with her

Who's That Girl World Tour The Who's That Girl World Tour (billed as Who's That Girl World Tour 1987) was the second concert tour by American singer and songwriter Madonna. The tour supported her 1986 third studio album '' True Blue'', as well as the 1987 soundtrack ''Who ...

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 The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent. In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbers ...

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 ...

(United Kingdom) * Brühl (Germany)

References

External links

Sceaux official website
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sceaux, Hauts-De-Seine Communes of Hauts-de-Seine