Maisons-Laffitte

Maisons-Laffitte (French pronunciation: [mɛzɔ̃ lafit] ) is a commune in the Yvelines department in the northern Île-de-France region of France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of northwestern Paris, 18.2 km (11.3 mi) from its centre.

Maisons-Laffitte is famous for the Château de Maisons-Laffitte, built by architect François Mansart in the 17th century, and its horse racing track, the Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse. Église Saint-Nicolas was built between 1867 and 1872.

History

Originally called Maisons-sur-Seine (meaning "Houses upon Seine"), the commune was officially renamed Maisons-Laffitte in 1882 in honour of banker Jacques Laffitte who financed the housing developments on the estate of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte.

The Château de Maisons-Laffitte has a secret passage to what once used to be part of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte but which is now a school – Collège de l'Ermitage.

Population

Landmarks

Maisons-Laffitte is famous for the Château de Maisons-Laffitte, built by architect François Mansart in the 17th century. Maisons-Laffitte is also known for its horse racing track, the Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse, which is why the town is known as the "cité du cheval" and compared with Newmarket in the United Kingdom.

Église Saint-Nicolas was mainly built between 1867 and 1872 under architect Eugène Millet, on the land of an old cemetery. It was consecrated in 1872 by Jean-Pierre Mabile, the bishop of Versailles.

Transport

Maisons-Laffitte is served by Maisons-Laffitte station on Paris RER line A and on the Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare suburban rail line.

Notable residents

• Pape-Philippe Amagou, basketball player
• Grégory Baugé, cyclist
• Eugène Louis Bouvier, zoologist
• Jean Cocteau, writer, filmmaker, and artist
• Jerzy Giedroyc, founder and editor of a leading Polish-émigré literary-political journal, Kultura
• Philippe Jaroussky, opera singer
• Coralie Lassource, handball player
• René Le Roy (1898–1985), classical flautist
• Odd Nerdrum, painter
• Randy de Puniet, motorcycle racer
• Anne Queffélec, pianist
• Yvonne Rokseth, composer and musicologist
• Emma Watson (until the age of five), actress
• James Winkfield, jockey, horse trainer
• Ghislaine Maxwell, British socialite known for her association with Jeffrey Epstein

Education

Public schools:

• Six preschools/nurseries (maternelles): Bois-Bonnet, Clos-Lainé, Cocteau, Colbert, La Renarde, Montebello
• Four elementary schools: Jehan Alain/André Ledreux, Colbert, Le Prieuré, Mansart
• Junior high schools (collèges): Jean Cocteau and Le Prieuré
• Senior high schools/sixth-form colleges: Lycée Évariste Galois (Sartrouville) and Lycée Les Pierres Vives (Carrières sur Seine)

Private schools:

• International School of France / L'Ermitage (preschool to senior high)
• Sainte-Marie (preschool and elementary)
• Ecole Montessori Internationale

Twin towns – sister cities

Since 2023, Maisons-Laffitte is exclusively and reciprocally twinned with Arkadag city, Turkmenistan.

See also

• Communes of the Yvelines department

References

External links

• Local website (in English)
• Official website (in French)
• Tourist Office (multi-lingual)
• Pictures and history of Maisons-Laffitte ( French)