Melun (məlöN'), town (1990 pop. 36,489), capital of Seine-et-Marne dept., N central France, SE of Paris. It is an important industrial center where automobile bodies, airplane engines, leather products, pharmaceuticals, and elastics are produced. An ancient town of Île-de-France, Melun was founded on an island in the Seine and during Gallo-Roman times expanded to both banks of the river. It was ravaged often by the Normans. Melun became an early residence of the Capetian kings. The town has a Romanesque church (12th cent.) and vestiges of a Roman fortress and a Capetian castle. Nearby is the famous Château of Vaux-le-Vicomte, built for Nicholas Fouquet.
Melun
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Commune of Melun |
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| Location | |
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| Location (in red) within Paris inner and outer suburbs | |
| Coordinates | 48°32′26″N 2°39′36″E / 48.54056°N 2.66°E |
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Île-de-France |
| Department | Seine-et-Marne |
| Arrondissement | Melun |
| Canton | Melun-Nord and Melun-Sud |
| Intercommunality | Melun – Val de Seine |
| Mayor | Gérard Millet (UMP) (2008–2014) |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 37–102 m (120–330 ft) (avg. 54 m/180 ft) |
| Land area1 | 8.04 km2 (3.10 sq mi) |
| Population2 | 38,691 (2006) |
| - Density | 4,812 /km2 (12,460 /sq mi) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 77288/ 77000 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
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Melun is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris 25.7 miles (41.4 km) from the center. Melun is the capital of the department, as the seat of an arrondissement.
Its inhabitants are called Melunais.
History
Meledunum began as a Gaulish town; Caesar noted Melun as "a town of the Senones, situated on an island in the Seine"; at the island there was a wooden bridge, which his men repaired.[1] Roman Meledunum was a mutatio where fresh horses were kept available for official couriers on the Roman road south-southeast of Paris, where it forded the Seine.[2]
The Normans sacked it in 845. The castle of Melun became a royal residence of the Capetian kings. Hugh Capet (See also: House of Capet) gave Melun to Bouchard, his favorite. In the reign of Hugh's son, Robert II of France, Eudes, the count of Champagne, bought the city, and the king took it back for the viscount in 999. Le Chatelain and his wife, who had sold the city, were hanged. Robert died there in July 1031.
Counts of Melun
- Donatus (?-834)
- Bouchard I (956/967–1005), also Count of Vendome and Count of Paris
Vicounts of Melun
The early viscounts of Melun were listed by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century genealogists, notably Père Anselme. Based on closer reading of the original documents, Adolphe Duchalais constructed this list of viscounts in 1844:[3]
- Salo (c. 993; possibly legendary)
- Joscelin I (c. 998)
- William (possibly c. 1000)
- Ursio (c. 1067-1085)
- William the Carpenter (c. 1094)
- Hilduin, Garin, Ursio II, Jean (unknown dates, possibly not viscounts)
- Adam (c. 1138-1141; married Mahaut, daughter of his predecessor)
- Joscelin II (c. 1156)
The title eventually became an honourary peerage. Such viscount include Honoré-Armand de Villars and Claude Louis Hector de Villars.
Transport
Melun is served by Melun station, which is an interchange station on Paris RER line D, on the Transilien Paris – Lyon suburban rail line, and on several national rail lines.
Sights
The nearby chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte is considered a smaller predecessor of Palace of Versailles.
The officers' school of the French Gendarmerie is located in Melun.
People
Melun was the birthplace of:
- Pierre Certon (c.1510-1520-1572), composer of the Renaissance (probably born in Melun)
- Jacques Amyot (1513-1593), writer
- Chimène Badi (1982-), singer
- Samir Beloufa (1979-), professional footballer
International relations
Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in France
Twin towns — Sister cities
Melun is twinned with:
See also
References
- ^ Gallic War vii. 58, 60.
- ^ Meledunum appears in the Antonine Itinerary almost halfway between Lutetia (Paris) and Condate (Rennes) ('Meledunum").
- ^ Adolphe Duchalais, “Charte inedité de l’an 1138, relative à l’histoire des viscomtes de Melun” (Bibliothèque de l’école des chartes vol. 6 no. 6, 1845).
- Initial text from the "Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2001" Compiled by John R. Carpenter.
- The Viscounts and Counts of Melun are listed in ES (Detlev Schwennicke, "Europäische Stammtafeln," Neue Folge) Volume VII, Tafels 55 & 56.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Melun |
- City council website (in French)
- Tourist office website (in French)
- 1999 Land Use, from IAURIF (Institute for Urban Planning and Development of the Paris-Île-de-France région (English)
- French Ministry of Culture list for Melun (French)
- Map of Melun on Michelin (English)
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Mentioned in
- treaty of Melun
- Seine-et-Marne (department, France)
- seigneur de Arnaud Guillaume Barbazan (French military leader)
- Brie (region, France)
- Vaux-le-Vicomte
- Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret (art)
- Sporting Events (travel guide)
- Pierre Gautherot (art)
- Cl?ment-Pierre Marillier (art)
- Seine (river, France)
- Camping (travel guide)
- Claude Fran?ois (art)
- 1031 (chronology)
- Jean Fouquet
