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

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 ...

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 ...

. It is located from the center of Paris. Maisons-Alfort is famous as the location of the

National Veterinary School of Alfort National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. 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, Paris ...

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

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 Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

''Mansiones'', meaning "the houses". At the creation of the commune during the French Revolution, 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 Peter of Aigueblanche (or Peter of Aquablanca or Peter d’Aigueblanche or Peter de Aquablanca; died 27 November 1268) was a medieval Bishop of Hereford. A nobleman from Savoy, he came to England as part of the party accompanying King Henry I ...

Bishop of Hereford The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. Until 1534, the Diocese of Hereford was in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and two of its bishop ...

(

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

), in the middle of the 13th century. The name of this Manor of Hereford was corrupted into ''Harefort'', then ''Hallefort'', and eventually Alfort. The

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 Alfortville () is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. It is one of the 13 communes in the interc ...

. The Hôtel de Ville was officially opened in 1896. In 1905,

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age ...

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 V2 (), with the technical name ''Aggregat (rocket family), Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range missile guidance, guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the S ...

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

Houffalize Houffalize (; ; ) 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 48. On 1 January 2007 the munic ...

, 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 municipality and town located in the province of South Holland, on the western coast of the Netherlands. An affluent suburb of The Hague, Wassenaar lies north of that city on the N44/A44 highway near the Nort ...

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

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 13 communes. Its population is 513,253 (2021), and its area is . Composition The communes of the arrondiss ...

. 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, Île-de-France region, northern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Maisons-Alfo ...

Points of interest

École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort The National veterinary school of Alfort ( or ''ENVA'') is a French public institution of scientific research and higher education in veterinary medicine, located in Maisons-Alfort, Val-de-Marne, close to Paris. It is operated under the superv ...

Jardin botanique de l'École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort The Jardin botanique de l'École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort is a botanical garden operated by the École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort, and located on the school's grounds at 7, avenue du Général de Gaulle, Maisons-Alfort, Val-de-Marne, ...

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, Île-de-France, France. History The château was built in the second half of the 18th century and in the 19th century. Architectural significance It has been listed as a ...

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 In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

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 for the Michigan Wolverines and San Jose State Spartans. In 1997, the Sacra ...

, basketball player *

Thomas N'Gijol Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, 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 an ...

, 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 Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. ...

, women writer

International relations

Maisons-Alfort is twinned with

Moers Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German List of cities and towns in Germany, city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel (distric ...

in the German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Transport

Maisons-Alfort is served by three stations on

Paris Métro Line 8 Paris Métro Line 8 (French language, French: ''Ligne 8 du métro de Paris'') is one of the sixteen lines of the Paris Métro. It connects Balard (Paris Métro), Balard in the southwestern part of Paris to Pointe du Lac (Paris Métro), Pointe du ...

: , , and . It is also served by two stations on Paris

RER D RER D is one of the five lines in the (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris and its suburbs. The line crosses the region from north to south, with all trains serving a group of stat ...

: and .

References

External links

Official website

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