This is Marcoussis !!! 

Posted in Europe, France

The town of Marcoussis is worth the detour to see the historical wonders of my belle France, I was passing in my road warrior trails and glad stop by briefly to sneak the town , and sadly no time to see more in town, we will be back, eventually. And course, this post will be my introduction to the town in my black and white series, no pictures, The town of Marcoussis is located in the Essonne department no, 91 in the Île-de-France region of my belle France. Therefore, this is my take on this is Marcoussis !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The town of Marcoussis is built around a priory and the castle of wealthy advisors to the kings of France, was passed down to influential courtesans and later became a resort for the Parisian bourgeoisie, Today, known nationally for hosting the National Rugby Center, the training and education center of the French Rugby Federation. The town is bordered by the A10 autoroute and the LGV Atlantique high-speed rail line, the N104, also known as the Francilienne goes by its southern part. It is also crossed in parallel by the D446, the old national road from Versailles to Melun, which goes by the town center from where the departmental roads 3, 24 and 35 depart, the latter marks the border with Villejust, It is 13 km from Palaiseau, 25 km from Dourdan, 29 km from Etampes, 46 km from Milly la Forêt, 38 km from Paris, 27 km from Versailles and 459 km from my current home, The town is also 24 km from the Orly airport and 58 km from Roissy CDG airport. I used to come here from the avenue de Sceaux in Versailles taking the D91 (Rue du Maréchal Joffre) to connect with the N12 dir Vélizy-Villacoublay whichi connects with the A86 at 4,1 exit take the N306 which goes directly into the N118 crossing the A10 underpass connects with the D446 to Marcoussis.

 Do read my other post on the pavillon du roi. Some of the other things to see here with more time are the parish Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine attached to the pastoral sector of Montlhéry-Longpont and to the diocese of Évry-Corbeil-Essonnes, built in a Romanesque style in the 15C and completed in the 16C with a three-bay nave. It is decorated with a statue representing the Virgin and Child in Carrara marble, two meters high, given to the local monastery of the Célestins in 1408. The Château des Célestins, currently a cultural center built in 1859 on the site of a former convent dating from the 15C, the remains of the Château de Bellejame dating from the 17C, the Château de Bel Ébat dating from the 19C, the Château du Chêne Rond, the Domaine de la Ronce from the 15C,now a leisure center owned by the village of Bourg-la-Reine, the Déluge farm, former Templar commandery from the 12C passed to the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem and partially rebuilt in the 14C and 17C, the Hôtel-Dieu farm covered with a hull roof from the 18C.

A bit of history I like tell us the development of a first village began in the 7C, with the construction in the valley in 663 of a priory dependent on the Abbey of Saint-Wandrille. In 854, a charter of Charles II the Bald mentions a property in Marcoussis. Initially, it was only a vineyard dependent on Bution, near present-day Arpajon. The monks who lost Bution settled in Marcoussis at the beginning of the 12C and established a parish there. At the end of the 14C, Ferric Cassinel, brother of Biette de Casinel, the mistress of King Charles V, gave his nephew Jean de Montagu the lordship of Marcoussis. Grand treasurer and then chamberlain of Charles VI, he bought the various fiefs of the domain and between 1400 and 1408 had the lordship castle, the parish church and a monastery built where he installed the Celestines. Tried, beheaded and then hanged in 1409 at the instigation of the Duke of Burgundy John the Fearless, the domain was given to Louis of Bavaria. Upon his death, the lordship was returned to Charles de Montagu, son of the founder, first chamberlain of Charles VI. In 1422, the lordship returned to his sister, Jacqueline de Montagu, wife of Jean Malet de Graville. During the Hundred Years’ War, the castle,was the target of numerous attacks: between 1412 and 1435, it was successively occupied by the Armagnacs, the Burgundians, the English, and then the French. By succession, the lordship of Marcoussis felled to Louis Malet de Graville, also lord of Chastres, Milly-la-Forêt, Gometz-le-Châtel, Chevreuse, and Malesherbes, who was made Admiral of France in 1487, chamberlain, and advisor to King Louis XI. He annexed the fiefs of Nozay and La Ville-du-Bois to the lordship of Marcoussis. Upon his death, his estates passed to his daughter Jeanne, who in turn left them to her nephew, Guillaume de Balzac d’Entragues. Thus in 1600, the castle hosted the adulterous loves of King Henry IV and Catherine Henriette de Balzac d’Entragues. In 1562 and 1563, suffered the Wars of Religion; the church was desecrated and the monastery burned by the Huguenots. During the Fronde, Montagu Castle was used to imprison the Prince of Condé, the Prince of Conti, and the Duke of Longueville. In 1751, Élisabeth-Thérèse Chevalier de Montigny purchased the Marcoussis estate.

In 1768 and 1771, Louis XV called for the opening of hunting routes through the Marcoussis Woods and, in 1774, had a hunting lodge (see post) built at the Chaussée de l’Étang. In 1787, these buildings became stables for the royal hunts. In 1792, Montagu Castle was destroyed after being devastated. The Célestins estate was sold as national property in 1798 and destroyed shortly after. In 1805, Armand de Puységur had the remains of Montagu Castle razed to prevent it from becoming a state prison. In 2002, the National Rugby Centre was inaugurated on the former Bellejame estate. On July 29, 2007, the town was a stage town for the 2007 Tour de France.

The city of Marcoussis on its history: https://marcoussis.fr/mon-village/presentation/histoire/

The Essonne dept 91 tourist office on Marcoussis: https://www.essonnetourisme.com/en/?s=marcoussis

There you go folks, another wonder in my belle France indeed. It was a long road warrior trip and glad we stop by even if briefly in Marcoussis, a nice hugely historical town worth the re visit, Again, hope you enjoy the post on this is Marcoussis !!! as I.

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

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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.

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