I bring you back to my nostalgic Seine et Marne dept 77, and a familiar town. It is an off the beaten path area that should be visited more, and I look forward to be back, eventually. I will do this post as an introduction to a memorable town in my black and white series,no pictures, Therefore, let me give you my take on this is Brie Comte Robert !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I,
The town of Brie-Comte-Robert is located in my nostalgic Seine-et-Marne department no 77 ,and in the Île de France region of my belle France, It is the historical capital of the Brie region. The town is 19 km from Melun, 18 km from Créteil ,47 km from Versailles, 49 km from Meaux, and 488 km from my current home, We came here from Meaux, native town of my dear late wife Martine, along the A140 highway to connect with the A4 autoroute de l’est dir Paris to exit/sortie 15 dir Melun on the D1036 road or Route de Melun continue then bear right onto the N4 highway or D1004 road dir Melun continue bearing right onto the D216 road dir Brie Comte Robert passing by City center Rue Charles Pathé of Chevry-Cossigny and continue on the D216 road or Route de Chevry entering Brie Comte Robert on Avenue du Général de Gaulle continue on Rue de Verdun ,Rue de la Chaussée ,Bd Jean Jaurés or D50 road continue to roundabout bearing left onto Rue de la Madeleine and the church parking, The territory of Brie-Comte-Robert is crossed by four departmental roads. The D 319, which connects Brie to Guignes, runs through the center of the town. The D 316, of lesser importance, provides a bypass of the D 319 to the north of the town. From the center of Brie-Comte-Robert , the D 216 leads to the neighboring town of Chevry-Cossigny and the town of Mouroux. Finally, the D 50 connects Arbonne-la-Forêt to the center of Brie-Comte-Robert. The area is also indirectly served by the Francilienne at exit/sortie 22 of the A4 and A10 autoroutes via the interchange located between Servon and the town of Brie-Comte-Robert. The area is also served by N19 from Boissy Saint Léger.
Other things to see here are the Château de Brie-Comte-Robert was built at the end of the 12th century, when Robert I of Dreux, brother of King Louis VII, was Lord of Brie. Archaeological evidence, decorative elements, and the choice of construction techniques all point to the architecture of this pivotal period. The castle remained in the Dreux family until 1254, then passed to the Châtillon family. Through successive dowries and inheritances, it passed to Marguerite d’Artois and then to her daughter Jeanne d’Évreux. At the end of the 14th century, the castle reverted to the royal domain, then to the Orléans family. The town purchased the castle in 1803 and sold it ten years later, in 1813. The municipality finally repurchased it in 1923. Like all hospitals, it served as a resting place for merchants and travelers passing through the town, not as a place to care for the sick; it was probably built in the 13th century by Robert II of Dreux, perhaps in 1208. In 1840, the building became a girls’ school, but ten years later, in 1850, it was transformed into a chapel dedicated to Saint Justine. The hospital was used again as a hospital during the Great War or WWI. The building has been used as an exhibition hall since 1995, following renovations: a second floor was rebuilt while respecting the Gothic façade. It also features a small medieval-style garden planted with aromatic and medicinal herbs. A second hospital opened in the 17C; it is located in what is now the local hospital of Brie-Comte-Robert. Today, it is used by the Seine-et-Marne cancer association. The former church and convent of the Minims were located in the center of the town, specifically on Place Stadtbergen, bordering Boulevard des Bienfaîtes and Place des Minimes. The convent was founded in 1647, built at the request of Marquis Nicolas de L’Hospital, on land belonging to the monks of Saint-Denis. Today, the building of the former Minims church, with its Latin cross plan, still stands. The Château de Vaudoy was located on the former Rue Corbeilloise (now Rue Paul-Savary). Its park was laid out in a classical style and featured long, straight avenues, a small pond, large gardens, a large kitchen garden, and several houses that were part of the château’s outbuildings. The entire estate is now bordered by Rue Paul-Savary, Rue du Tour-du-Parc, Avenue Thiers, Avenue Beau, and Boulevard Jean-Jaurès. Just before the French revolution, the château was the residence of Anne de Balbi, who was registered as an émigré on March 4, 1793, by the town of
Brie-Comte-Robert . The château was sold as émigré property and demolished, and the large park was sold off in several parcels. On the current Rue Paul-Savary, one can still see the brick pilasters that marked the entrance to the outbuildings of the former estate. Beneath the current Place des Fêtes, one could discover the cellars and foundations of the former Vaudoy castle. Before 1786, the City/town hall was located at No 20 Place du Marché. At that time, the building also housed the municipal assembly, the bailiff’s court, the King’s prosecutor, and the royal prison. On November 19, 1786, the municipal assembly acquired a bourgeois house on Place Royale (now Place des Déportés). Over time, the building housed the Justice of the Peace and a guardhouse for the police station. The building served as the City/town hall until 1942 and as the fire station until 1986. The building has retained its grand entrance steps and the Renaissance-style bay window with its mullion. The building currently serves as an exhibition hall and offices for the media library. The City/town hall of Brie-Comte-Robert has been located, since 1942, at the corner of rue de Verdun and rue du général Leclerc.
A bit of history I like tell us that Brie-Comte-Robert is the former capital of the Brie region. The town was once called Bradeia. Around the 12C, the town was known as Braia; King Louis VI, who purchased most of it, bequeathed these lands before his death to his younger son, Robert, who also received the County of Dreux. Robert I, Count of Dreux, participated in the Second Crusade with his elder brother, Louis VII. The village became a town around 1153. Robert I of Dreux died in 1188; he had given his name to the town, Comte-Robert. To defend the town, Robert had a castle built which, at the beginning of the 13C, became one of the best strongholds in the region. In 1147, Count Robert II of Dreux became the second lord of Brie-Comte-Robert upon the death of Agnès de Baudement, his mother. He was the younger brother of Robert III, also Count of Brittany through his marriage to Alix de Thouars, and a companion of Saint Louis on the Seventh Crusade. He died at sea, and the lands of Brie remained with the
House of Brittany . After the assassination of Louis of Orléans in 1407, a civil war broke out in France between the Armagnacs, supporters of the Orléans family, and the Burgundians, allied with the English. Brie fell to the son of Louis of Orléans, the Duke and poet Charles of Orléans, who was taken prisoner at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 by King Henry V of England. Charles of Orléans was taken captive across the Channel, where he remained for 25 years. The castle, according to the vagaries of war, passed from the Burgundians to the King of France, from the soldiers of Philip the Good to the English: the Château de Brie was thus occupied for a time by the Burgundians (John the Fearless passed through in 1418). Captured in 1422, the town of Brie was given in 1424 to Isabeau of Bavaria, widow of Charles VI. The town fell to the English on September 6, 1430, and remained in their possession until 1434. Then entrusted to the English guard of William de Ferrière, it was captured by the Duke of Bourbon. Besieged for two days, the Earl of Stafford captured the town and castle on September 5, 1439. Four years later, the breaches were repaired, but the castle fell into the hands of the Duke of Burgundy. When the future Louis XI, then only a Dauphin rebelling against his father Charles VII, led lords from the provinces of Brie and Champagne in his wake, they in turn seized the town of
Brie-Comte-Robert . Subsequently, the monarch had to retake it by force. Charles of Orléans returned from captivity in 1440 and regained possession of Brie-Comte-Robert and its castle. The town remained in the Orléans family until the reign of King Louis XII, son of Charles of Orléans, and his son-in-law Francis I, who ascended the throne in 1515. Some inhabitants of Brie embraced Protestantism in the 16C. In 1563, its presence attracted Catholic soldiers sent against the Huguenots. In 1649, the town participated in the Fronde, the uprising of the people of Paris against Cardinal Mazarin. Brie-Comte-Robert was occupied by Parisian Frondeurs to ensure the supply of Paris, which had been blockaded by Condé. In 1766, Louis XV exchanged the Brie estate with his cousin Louis-Charles de Bourbon (Count of Eu and former Sovereign Prince of Dombes; son of the Duke of Maine and grandson of Louis XIV) for land in Versailles . On July 17, 1789, Baron de Besenval (colonel of the Swiss Guards and military commander of Île-de-France) was fleeing towards Switzerland but was arrested by the Villenauxe militia and then imprisoned in the Château de Brie from August 11 to November 7. The lord of Brie at that time was the Duke of Penthièvre, Louis-Jean-Marie de Bourbon (son of the Count of Toulouse), another grandson of Louis XIV, first cousin and heir of the Count of Eu. Upon his death, the estates passed to his daughter, Louise-Marie-Adélaïde, mother of King Louis-Philippe. She married Philippe Égalité d’Orléans, who was the last lord of Brie-Comte-Robert: he only kept the château for a few months because it was confiscated during the French revolution and put up for sale in 1793 as national property. Philippe d’Orléans was himself guillotined on November 6, 1793.
On October 26, 1793, orders were given to destroy all religious symbols. On December 2, 1793, the cross and the rooster of the parish church, as well as the cross of the Minims church, were dismantled and sold. On January 10, 1794, the tricolor flag was raised atop the parish church’s bell tower. During this period, the church became a fodder store. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, on November 6, 1870, the unnamed balloon No. 3 or Piper No. 2 took off from the La Villette gasworks in Paris, then besieged by the Prussians, and ended its journey, captured by the Prussians, in Brie-Comte-Robert after traveling 36 km. From 1966 to 1974, the former car manufacturer Chappe et Gessalin was headquartered in Brie-Comte-Robert, specifically on Rue du Coq Gaulois. 395 vehicles were produced at the Brie-Comte-Robert factory. A street in the town was named Rue Chappe-Gessalin in honor of the company.
The town of Brie Comte Robert on its heritage : https://www.briecomterobert.fr/mairie/territoire/
The Seine et Marne dept 77 tourist office on Brie Comte Robert : https://www.tourisme-seine-et-marne.fr/visiter-decouvrir/727151-ville-brie-comte-robert/
There you go folks, again another dandy in my nostalgic Seine et Marne, This is one town that needs to be visited more ,still off beaten path mode but worth the detour, It is sublime, and darn good to be at. Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Brie Comte Robert !!! as I,
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
