Vernon (; ) is a commune in the French department of

Eure Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.administrative region of

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, northern

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 lies on the banks of the river

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

, about midway between

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

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

. Vernon–Giverny station has rail connections to Rouen and Paris. The town is known for its production of engines by the SNECMA group.

History

Mentioned in a Latin written document as ''Vernum'', the /m/ at the end could be the last remains of the Celtic ''magus'' 'plain' or 'market', or it is a simple latinization, and the origin is just the Celtic word ''*uerno'',

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

tree ( Breton ''gwern'', Welsh ''gwern'', Irish ''fern'', modern French ''verne''). The village gave its name to a family who took part in the

Norman Conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

, and then became a British first name. The village is home to Établissement Saint-Adjutor, a notable private school.

Important dates

* 750 – First mention of name Vernon by Pepin the Short. * 1070 – Birth of Saint Adjutor. * 1123 – Building of Vernon Castle * 1153 – Vernon is besieged by king Louis VII. * 1196 – Vernon is joined to the royal domain by King Philip II Augustus. * 1227 – Saint-Louis comes to Vernon. * 1415 – Vernon becomes English. * 1449 – Vernon passes to France (king Charles VII). * 1596 – 8 October, Henry IV visits Bizy Castle. * 1600 – Construction of the Vieux-Moulin (old mill). * 1606 – Henry IV creates a school. * 1723 – Creation of the Avenue des Capucins. * 1789 – Thomas Jefferson, his family, and Sally and James Hemings stop at Vernon on their way to Le Havre to return to America. * 1804 – Vernonnet is attached to Vernon. * 1810 – Napoleon I comes to Vernon. * 1843 – Arrival of the

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

. * 1858 – Building of the Saint-Louis Hospital. * 1860 – Highworks urbanism in the centre by Suchet d'Albuféra. * 1862 – Building of the library. * 1895 – Inauguration of the new town hall by Adolphe Barette. * 1897 – First cinema show at the Vernon Theatre. * 1910 – The

river floods the town. * 1946 – Arrival of 28 German scientists from

Peenemünde Peenemünde (, ) is a municipality on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. It is part of the ''Amt (country subdivision), Amt'' (collective municipality) of Used ...

to develop French rockets. * 1951 – First attempt to launch a ''Véronique'' rocket (Vernonelectronic

* 1955 – Inauguration of the Clémenceau Bridge. * 1966 – Building of the Georges Dumézil high school. * 1983 – First edition of the ''Foire aux Cerises'' (cherry fair). * 1992 – Building of the Espace Culturel Philippe Auguste.

Population

Twin towns – sister cities

Vernon is Sister city, twinned with: * Bad Kissingen, Germany * Massa, Italy

Notable people

* Michel de La Vigne (1588–1648), doctor * Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), English Romantic painter * Philippe Montanier (born 1964), football player and manager * Chantal Jouanno (born 1969), politician * Tongo Doumbia (born 1989), footballer * Marie-Charlotte Garin (born 1995), politician * Ousmane Dembélé (born 1997), footballer * Jared Khasa (born 1997), footballer

Gallery

Vernon - Église01.jpg, Collégiale Notre-Dame (now Parish Church) Vernon - Tour des Archives03.jpg, Tour des archives ( Philippe Auguste's Keep) Vernon MH-maison temps jadis.jpg, Maison du Temps Jadis (Medieval House) Vernon - Musée AG Poulain03.jpg, Corner of Rue du Pont and Rue Carnot Vernon - Musée AG Poulain01.jpg, Museum Vernon - Colombages01.jpg, Place Barette Vernon - Hôtel de ville02.jpg, Town hall Tombeau saint mauxe1.jpg, Tomb of Saint-Mauxe Vernon - Monuments aux morts01.jpg, War memorial Vernon - Pont sur la Seine01.jpg, Pont Clemenceau Pont médiéval à Vernon.JPG, Medieval bridge Vernon - Place du Général-De-Gaulle01.jpg, Place Charles de Gaulle's Market Day Vernon - Espace Philippe-Auguste01.jpg, Espace Philippe-Auguste Culture Centre

References

External links

Official website
(in French)
Nouvelle Normandie Tourisme
– official tourist board website in English {{authority control Communes of Eure Veliocasses