Buc () is a commune 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 and

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of north central

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Geography

Buc is located some 20 km south-west of central

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and 3 km south of Versailles. The old town lies in the valley of the River Bièvre at an elevation of around 100 m above sea level. Most of Buc's residential districts have been built on the plateau de Saclay, some 50 m higher. The surrounding communes are: * Versailles to the north * Jouy-en-Josas to the north-east * Les Loges-en-Josas to the south-east * Toussus-le-Noble to the south * Châteaufort to the extreme south-west * Guyancourt to the west.

Demography

History

The name Buc derives from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''buscum'' which means boxwood. The inhabitants of Buc are known in French as ''Bucois'' (m.) and ''Bucoises'' (f.). * Territory attached to the domain of Versailles in 1660 and used to be frequented by Louis XIV of France mostly for hunting. * 1684-1686 : Construction of the Buc aqueduct. * 1880 : Construction of the Fort du Haut-Buc. * 1909, July 25 : Installation of Louis Blériot on ; he built his private airfield and, in 1913, a flying school.

Culture

* Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church : Built in siliceous rock from the 12th century, enlarged in 1994. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

has a gothic architectural shape and its bell tower has a romanesque style. In the steeple, the bell, which is classified Monument historique, has been melted, blessed and then baptized ''Louise Auguste Adélaïde'' by its sponsor Louis XIV of France in 1775. * Aqueduc de Buc : Built by François Michel Le Tellier de Louvois in 1686. This aqueduct purpose was to provide water drained from the Ponds of Saclay (more precisely, ''ponds of Saclé'', ''Pont Salé'' and ''Saint-Hubert'' by the time it was used) and delivered to the Domain of the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

, known as well as the Gardens of Versailles, in order to supply huge amounts of water to its multitude of fountains and basins. The aqueduct has 19 millstone arches, is 21 meters high and 580 meters long. Now disused, this great architectural work has been classified Monument historique in 1952. * Château du Haut-Buc : This ancient little castle was part of the Grand parc de Versailles (Great Versailles Domain) and was used by Louis XIV of France to accommodate his son Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse (1681), duc de Penthièvre (1697), d'Arc, de Châteauvillain and de Rambouillet (1711) which later moved into the Pavillon des Eaux at Louveciennes. Le Château du Haut-Buc was destroyed in 1740 on order of Louis XV of France. The actual castle, the commune property, was rebuilt on the same site in 1864. Today the castle is often used as a showroom as well as a music school. Its park has a playground and a soccer, rugby and basketball pitch . * Fort du Haut-Buc : Made between 1814 and 1880, this fortification used to be part of the second fortified defence belt of

between 1874 and 1882. This military building is currently unaffected and is completely abandoned since 1995. * Near the aqueduct and the

Pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

of La Geneste (part of the ponds of La Minière), the Oak of Louis XIV, which is probably more than 500 years old, survived a great storm which occurred in 1999, devastating much of the forest. Unfortunately this emblematic tree collapsed from age in the last week of 2004. Buc's forest is part of the Forêt de Versailles (Versailles forest). * Buc local

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

: Some people assert that beavers can be observed in La Bièvre whereas nothing really proves the presence of such inhabitants. This river get its name from the

word ''biber'' which means ''beaver'', which explains the legend. But other roots can be found like ''beber'' (meaning " brown"), which could describe the natural color of the water, or ''bibere'' (''to drink''), which is more than enjoyable on the evening, facing the pond of La Geneste in a peaceful atmosphere with some friends and a good pack of Kronenbourgs. And surprisingly, it is at those moments that beavers are more likely to appear. * A cartoon festival, the Festival de Buc, is held each year since 1994. The comic book of one of the adventures of Blake and Mortimer, '' S.O.S. Meteors: Mortimer in Paris'' (1959) of Edgar P. Jacobs, has its story based in and around Buc. * Buc is the home of one of the three Franco-German high schools and the only one located in France. Franco-German Baccalauréats are issued.

Administration

In 2005, the commune has been rewarded ''« Ville Internet @@ »'' (''« Internet city @@ »'') as well as in 2008 and 2010. This reward is highly decorative under the Buc's entrance street sign.

The department

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.Seine-et-Oise department. Jehan Despert is considered as the "father" of 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.Gaston Palewski, the name of this department at its creation, in reference to the ancient Yveline forest from which radiate most of the water streams that irrigate the department. The actual Foret de Rambouillet ( Rambouillet forest) constituted its remains.

Transport

Buc is not served by any station of the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...

, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest stations to Buc are Versailles - Chantier station ( gare de Versailles - Chantiers) and Petit Jouy Les Loges station (gare de Petit Jouy - Les Loges). One bus line (Bus 262) links the city to Versailles. It takes 5–15 minutes (If you are located in the Bas-Buc) to 10–30 minutes (if you are located in the Haut-Buc) to reach Versailles - Chantier station depending on the traffic. There are many buses go through Buc : the 102, 103, 104, 6179, 6180, 6181, 6182, 6183, 6184, 117, 6177, 6160, 6161, 6162, 6163 and 6164.

Economy

Around 250 businesses are located in Buc.

Education

Schools in Buc include: * Ecole maternelle Pré St-Jean and Ecole élémentaire Pré St-Jean * Ecole maternelle Louis Clément and Ecole élémentaire Louis Clément * Ecole maternelle Louis Blériot and Ecole élémentaire Louis Blériot The sole public junior high school is Collège Martin Luther King, named in honor of slain American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. DFG / LFA Buc, a joint French-German international school, is in Buc. It was established by the 1963 Élysée Treaty. Section Internationale Anglophone de Buc is a section of this school.

Twin town

Buc is twinned with: * Bad Schwalbach,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

References

External links

*
Buc's town hall official website
*

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110720235451/http://www.recensement.insee.fr/searchResults.action?zoneSearchField=&codeZone=78117-COM Buc's key figures on Insee website {{authority control Communes of Yvelines