Maisons-Laffitte

Maisons-Laffitte
Château de Maisons-Laffitte
Location (in red) within Paris inner and outer suburbs
Location within Île-de-France region  Maisons-Laffitte
Administration
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Yvelines
Arrondissement	Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Canton	Maisons-Laffitte
Mayor	Jacques Myard (2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation	22–57 m (72–187 ft) (avg. 38 m/125 ft)
Land area1	6.75 km2 (2.61 sq mi)
Population2	23,014  (2006)
- Density	3,409 /km2 (8,830 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	78358/ 78600
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.

Coordinates: 48°56′49″N 2°08′44″E / 48.9469444444°N 2.14555555556°E / 48.9469444444; 2.14555555556

Maisons-Laffitte is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the north-western suburbs of Paris 18.2 km (11.3 mi) from the center.

Maisons-Laffitte is famous for the Château de Maisons-Laffitte, built by architect François Mansart in the 17th century. Maisons-Laffitte is also known for its horse racing track, the Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse, which is why the town is known as the "cité du cheval" and is compared with Newmarket in the UK.

History

Originally called Maisons-sur-Seine (meaning "Maisons upon Seine"), the commune was officially renamed Maisons-Laffitte in 1882 in honor of banker Jacques Laffitte who financed the housing developments on the estate of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte.

The Château de Maisons-Laffitte has a secret passage to what once used to be part of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte but which is now a school - Collège de l'Ermitage.

Transport

Maisons-Laffitte is served by Maisons-Laffitte station on Paris RER line A and on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line.

Notable residents

• Pape-Philippe Amagou basketball player
• Grégory Baugé cyclist
• Jerzy Giedroyc founder and editor of a leading Polish-émigré literary-political journal, Kultura
• Randy de Puniet motorcycle racer
• Odd Nerdrum painter
• Philippe Jaroussky opera singer

See also

• Communes of the Yvelines department

References

• INSEE

External links

• Official website (in French)
• Pictures and history of Maisons-Laffitte ( French)