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Marcoussis |
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| National training centre of the French national rugby union team | |
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Marcoussis
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Location within Île-de-France region
Marcoussis
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| Administration | |
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| Country | France |
| Region | Île-de-France |
| Department | Essonne |
| Arrondissement | Palaiseau |
| Canton | Montlhéry |
| Mayor | Olivier Thomas (2008–2014) |
| Statistics | |
| Land area1 | 16.8 km2 (6.5 sq mi) |
| Population2 | 7,863 (2006) |
| - Density | 468 /km2 (1,210 /sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
Marcoussis is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 24.8 km (15.4 mi) from the center of Paris.
Marcoussis is famous as the location of the CNR (National Centre of Rugby) where the French national rugby union team prepare for international competitions. It is at the CNR that the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement was signed in January 2003 between belligerents in the Ivorian Civil War.
A market village until the 1960s, Marcoussis supplied the markets of Paris with tomatoes and strawberries. A small train route, the Arpajonnais, inaugurated in 1894, took food at 4am every morning, it ceased functioning in 1937.
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Marcoussis is located to the south of Paris, between trunk road RN20, in the east and Autoroute A10 to the west and trunk road RN104 called the Francilienne to the south. It is crossed by the RN446, and a small river of the Orge, called Sallemouille (previously called Gadanine).
Inhabitants are officially called the Marcoussissiens or according to other sources are called the Marcoussiens.
Historical population:
Very old traces of occupation exist, in particular a polishing machine found on the southern slope of the valley. The village really started to develop around the priory of Wandrille Saint, depending on the Abbey of Saint-Wandrille. In 854, a charter of Charles the Bald mentions Marcoussis. Initially, it would only be absolutely necessary for one vinyard at Bution, near to Arpajon. The monks losing Bution settled in Marcoussis at the beginning of the 12th-century. The absence of records prevents an exact description of what was the priory at the time. It is known only that in 1298, there remained only one monk and that the village had 120 inhabitants. Célestins arrived at the beginning of the 15th-century, and absorbed the possessions of the old ruined priory. But the history of Marcoussis also includes the construction desired by Jean de Montagu in 1404–1408. Minister of Finance for Charles VI of France he built his castle here (of which only the base and a tower remains, known as the Oubliettes), the convent of Célestins (remains of the cellars and a portion of the gate) and ordered the rebuilding of the village church. The church shelters a superb marble statue of the Virgin Mary donated by Jean de Berry to the convent of Célestins. The kings came to hunt at Marcoussis and there remains the royal house built under Louis XV. There was a commandry of the order of Saint Jean of Jerusalem from the 13th-century (Brother Baudoyn commander of the "meson of the flood" in 1290); a vault is still visible. On the plateau close to Nozay, an important establishment of Alcatel shelters research laboratories.
Marcoussis is served by no station of the Paris Métro, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest station to Marcoussis is Saint-Michel-sur-Orge station on Paris RER line . This station is located in the commune of Saint-Michel-sur-Orge, 5.7 km (3.5 mi) from the town center of Marcoussis.
The strawberry festival continues although the mass growing of strawberries disappeared at the start of the 1980s, whereas it was formerly produced locally in great quantity.
Each year in spring, the carnival of Bineau fills the streets of the village. This carnival is, according to certain sources, dedicated to the minister Jean-Martial Bineau (1805–1855) who under Napoleon III, took unpopular measures by decreasing the spending of State. The carnival takes place in the following towns: Arpajon, Leuville-on-Barley, Nozay, City-of-Wood. Marcoussis is not in the official procession of floats and majorettes, but has a popular festival organised by its citizens. A covered puppet in black trousers and a tail coat, capped with a hat top hat, and girds of a tricolour scarf is carried by the young people who are 18 years that year (formerly conscripts, nowadays boys and girls) dressed in the same costume. They are followed by the dressed up tanks and inhabitants. For certain groups the preparation for "' 'Bineau' '" lasts several months (choice of the them, of the costumes and construction of the float which is drawn by a tractor). For the last ten years several groups are mobilized to make this festival a success. The procession starts at around 3pm, crosses the town by the main street from east to west to finish in place de la Republique, at dusk. Along the way, several stops take place among the houses of people who liberally offer drink to those in the procession. Bineau is placed at the top of a large heap of straw, piled-up over previous days, and set alight. The crowd forms a large farandole around fire, until it goes out. It is one of the great moments of the life of the commune, where the joy and good mood reign as Masters, and which many Marcoussisiens would not miss under any pretext.
The parish church Sainte-Marie-Madeleine was built by Jean de Montagu at the same time as its castle at the beginning of the 15th-century, it is registered on the additional inventory of historic buildings by decree of December 17, 1965. The nave with three spans was built in the middle of 16th-century by Jeanne d' Amboise, daughter of the amiral de Graville whose armorial bearings decorate the key of central crossing. One can admire inside the church a Virgin with the Child in marble of Carrara, of 2 meters height, œuvre of Jean de Cambrai for Duke of Berry who made of it gift with the monastery of Célestins in 1408, it was classified as a historic building as of 1896. The frontage is of style Gothic architecture blazing, the door is sumontée of a contour in accodance, the stained glass with the top of the door of entry represents the armorial bearings of the lords of Marcoussis: Montagu, Graville, Balzac and Iliers d' Entragues and Esclignac.
Was given to the orphans apprentices of Auteuil in 1940, by Genevieve de la Baume-Pluvinel, as well as the grounds and the modern castle, with the proviso of making it a school of horticulture which would bear the name of Saint-Anthony in homage to her brother who died at 18 years of age during the First World War. What remains today and is protected:
Owned by the commune and currently housing the school of Arts, built in 1859 on the site of the convent dedicated to the Holy Trinity which had bee completed in 1408 and occupied by Célestins. The convent was set on fire at the time of the Wars of Religion then demolished at the start of the French Revolution.
The castle was destroyed by fire in 1976 and the adjoining park now has the National Center of Rugby in its northern section. In the southern section, the park is managed by the general council of Essonne and has:
This building is now used as leisure centre, it was built in the last quarter of the 18th-century. Municipal property, indexed but not protected by the historic buildings decree.
Ferme générale of the Deluge, including the vestiges of a vault dedicated to John the Baptist, dating from the 12th-century and partially rebuilt in the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is the only vestige of the time when it belonged to the Order of the Templars, before it passed into to the hands of the Order of Malta, it was then joined together in Saint-Jean-de-Latran in Paris. Private property, it is listed by the historic buildings decree but not protected.
In 2007, Marcoussis was the start of the final stage of the Tour de France. The stage was 130 km (81 mi) long and finished with eight laps of the traditional circuit around the Champs-Élysées.
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