This is Maurepas !!!

Posted in France, Versailles

As usual lately, digging into my cd rom vault of memories found me new pictures that should be in my blog for you and me. The town of Maurepas passed by several times but as always not enough pictures!! worth the detour to see more, me think, Therefore, this is my take on this is Maurepas !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The town of Maurepas is located in the Yvelines department no 78 in the Île-de-France region of my belle France. It is part of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines metropolitan area, 19 km from Rambouillet ,35 km from Paris, 18 km from Versailles, and 448 km from my current home. It is surrounded by towns well known to me, see posts such as Jouars-Pontchartrain, Elancourt, Coigniéres, and La Verriére, The town is crossed by the D13 road (Montfort-l’Amaury – Chevreuse). It is bordered, along a north-south axis, by the N10, two exits/sorties serve Maurepas. I came here by the Avenue de Sceaux to the Rue Royale (D10) right on Rue du Général Leclerc , (D10) to Rue du Maréchal Joffre (D91) it changes name same road as Avenue Clément Ader to connect with the N12 dir Dreux/Rambouillet, get off at Bois d’Arcy taking Bd André Malraux which becomes the Bd du Rhin right on Ave de Normandie which becomes Chemin de Paris, same road at the roundabout place Croix Blanche take right into Rue Paul Drussant ,then right into Place des Buttes continue on Rue Paul Drussant which becomes Rue de l’Eglise and you have church and dungeon there.

Since the end of the 8C, the village of Malrepast (old spelling of Maurepas) has belonged to the abbots of Saint-Denis. But from the middle of the 9C, faced with Norman invasions, they abandoned the estate to the lords of Chevreuse. The castle was given to the Malrepast family. In the 9C, the Malrepast family had their home built on an artificial mound to increase their field of vision in the event of an enemy attack. During the first half of the 12C, the wooden dungeon was replaced by a stone castle. During the Hundred Years’ War, the lords of Malrepast abandoned the castle. Shortly after the escape, a bandit lord, Haymon de Massy, ​​seized the deserted castle. Haymon and his men combed the region. In 1425, the English put an end to this situation by capturing and hanging all the castle’s occupants. In 1432, the English conquered the region and destroyed the castle, which was defended by Aymon de Mouchy. After the war, the Maurepas estate was returned to the Chevreuse family, but the castle remained in ruins. Today, only part of the 20-meter-high dungeon remains.

The lordship’s chapel was built of wood in the 9C below the fortified castle. In the 11C, it was rebuilt in millstone with a two-bay Romanesque choir and a three-bay nave. During the Hundred Years’ War, the French plundered the castellany, and the chapel remained open to all winds. Today, a pointed arch opening remains on the north facade, where the drawbridge used to be. The chapel is placed under the patronage of Saint-Sauveur. At the beginning of the 16C, the churchwardens began restoration work on the church. At the end of the 16C, Jean-Fréderic Phélypeaux, Count of Maurepas, completed the interior renovations. In 1659, Marie de Rohan, Duchess of Chevreuse, commissioned two large bells, one of which still remains in the bell tower today. During the revolutionary period, the church served as a place for information and then elections. The parish priest became the first mayor. The Church Saint-Sauveur is now the church of Maurepas; it remains a place where the Catholic community gathers to pray. Many weddings, baptisms, and funerals are celebrated there, and Mass is celebrated every Sunday.

Other things to see are the several houses dating from the 18C and 19C. See also, the Church Notre Dame,

A bit of history I like tell us that after the departure of the Romans, periods of invasion followed one another, including those of the Normans. To defend themselves, the peasants gathered on the hill overlooking the valley. The land then belonged to the King of France. Pepin the Short gave it to the Abbey of Saint-Denis in 768. It quickly ceded it to a local family, which took the name of the land Malrepast (Maurepas) and became the vassal of the Lord of Chevreuse. In the 11C, a wall and a cylindrical dungeon made of millstone must have replaced the wooden fortifications of the previous centuries. With the Hundred Years’ War, the castle belonged, under Charles VI, to the Lord of Nancy. The English finally sent a team of mercenaries to pacify the region. The castle was stormed on September 11, 1432 and dismantled. The ruined dungeon is still visible. The Barony of Maurepas belonged to the House of Chevreuse, which sold it in 1543 to the Duke of Étampes, Jean IV de Brosse, whose wife, Anne de Pisseleu, was the mistress of François I. With the Duchess’s disgrace, Maurepas was resold in 1551 to the Cardinal of Lorraine. During the construction of the Palace of Versailles, a vast project was launched to collect all the water in the region to supply the basins and fountains. Two channels were dug on the Maurepas plateau from 1684; they joined in a dry basin , the Etang des Bessières, then a buried aqueduct carried the water to the Etang des Noës , and it still passes under the current city center. In 1691, Louis XIV elevated Maurepas to a county and ceded it to his minister Louis Phélypeaux, Count of Pontchartrain. His son Jean Frédéric Phélypeaux, Count of Maurepas, would later serve as minister to Louis XV and Louis XVI.

The town of Maurepas on the Donjon (dungeon): https://www.maurepas.fr/index.php/Le-Donjon

The town of Maurepas on the Church Saint Sauveur : https://www.maurepas.fr/index.php/L-%C3%A9glise-Saint-Sauveur?idpage=15167&afficheMenuContextuel=true

The official Saint Quentin en Yvelines agglo metro area so Maurepas: https://www.saint-quentin-en-yvelines.fr/agglomeration/

There you go folks, a nice short and sassy visit to quant Maurepas, for the memories of my road warrior trails. Looking forward to be back, eventually, worth the detour. Again, hope you enjoy the post on this is Maurepas !!! as I.

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

Unknown's avatar

Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.