Paris1972-Versailles2003

The town of Ecquevilly is located in the Yvelines department 78 ,in the Île-de-France region of my belle France. And once, again, found me an older picture that should be in my blog me think, The reason for been able to tell you about his picturesque town of my former Yvelines, Therefore, here is my bit on historical Ecquevilly ! Hope you enjoy the post as I,

The town of Ecquevilly is close to Orgeval and served in particular by the A13 and A14 highways/motorways, this town is a former rural town which has experienced strong urbanization since the 1960s, notably with the establishment of a Renault auto factory in the neighboring town of Flins-sur-Seine. Also, is located 35 km from Paris, just in the Seine valley, immediately south of Les Mureaux and 30 km from Versailles, prefecture of the department, and 20 km from the sub prefecture of Mantes-La Jolie,Very well connected by roads no train station, The town is served by departmental road no. 113, formerly known as the “route de Quarante-Sous” (taken many times!!) This is a section of the national road 13 Paris-Caen-Cherbourg which crosses the center of the town, This road has been diverted and avoids the center of the town. It is doubled to the north-east by the A13 route de Normandie highway/motorway, accessible by two half-interchanges located in the neighboring towns of Chapet and Bouafle (exit A13 – No 8). The departmental road 43 branches off the RD 113 at the eastern entrance to the town on a roundabout and heads towards Les Mureaux, crossing the A13 at the limit of the town, All familiar roads , memories forever !

 The Château d’Ecquevilly current Hôtel de Ville, The ruins of the Château de Fresne-Ecquevilly were purchased in the 19C by Mr. Baudouin who kept it until 1864. On this date Mr. Henri Purget built the current castle on the exact location of the castle of François d’O, smaller than this one, it retains its style and memory and currently serves as a City/town hall. The City/town hall is framed by two sculptures by Louis XIV.

Other monuments to see here are : the Saint-Martin Church, 12C. It depended on the Saint-Nicaise priory of Meulan, which then came under the abbey of Bec-Hellouin, The Château de Fresnes, dating from the 16C, this castle located near the church once experienced sumptuous times. Built ,after an order placed on November 15, 1578 by François d’O, superintendent of finances of King Henry III, of whom he was also one of the favorites, François d’ O received the king there several times. The castle did not survive the French revolution, abandoned and pillaged, it was listed as a hovel and ruin in 1838, The remains of the castle of François d’O ; despite its ruin then its disappearance, there nevertheless remain certain interesting vestiges of the attributes which surrounded this Renaissance castle such as the châtelet or entrance pavilion to the main courtyard, the dovecote with its upper room and a lower room with central pillar and a remarkable and rare palm vault, a corner building remodeled in the 19C, but which retains the initial decoration of dark brick in lattices on a background of red bricks, formerly decorating the four corner pavilions and the castle itself , part of the original ditches with the bases of the three other corner pavilions which have now disappeared and finally the 16C cellars partially remaining, on which the current castle-city/town hall is built, as well as some outbuildings known as the courtyard of the farm, whose superb 16C framework is original and whose building awaits a legitimate restoration. In 1964 it was used for the filming of the film “Tintin and the Blue Oranges”. The Romainville Castle 19C in 1893, Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe, an industrialist, had what is today called the “Romainville Castle” built in the Ecquevilly forest and which serves as a lodging for seminars ,meetings, and conferences.

A bit of history I like, tell us that from the 11C, the date of the oldest documents relating to the châtellenie of Fresnes, until the French revolution in 1789, four families succeeded one another at the head of this lordship: The families of Neauphle-le-Château, de Poissy, d’ O, and the Hennequin, The Marquis Armand Hennequin returned to France under the Restoration. Although he no longer owned Ecquevilly, he was nevertheless authorized by King Louis XVIII, in 1821, to retain the title of Marquis of Ecquevilly. The family graves having been violated, the Hennequin family sold their remaining possessions and left the town

The town of Ecquevilly and its heritage : https://www.ville-ecquevilly.fr/vivezvotreville/histoire-et-patrimoine/patrimoine-naturel

There you go folks, a nice little town off the beaten path of my nostalgic Yvelines dept 78 but full of wonderful architecture and history as in my belle France, Again, hope you have enjoy this post on Ecquevilly as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!