Pierrefonds

Pierrefonds
region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Oise
Arrondissement	Compiègne
Canton	Compiègne-2
Community association	Lisieres de l'Oise
Coordinates	49 ° 21 ′ N , 2 ° 59 ′ E Coordinates: 49 ° 21 ′ N , 2 ° 59 ′ E
height	55-144 m
surface	22.32 km 2
Residents	1,808 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	81 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	60350
INSEE code	60491
	; Town Hall ( Hôtel de ville )

Pierrefonds is a French commune with 1,808 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in Oise in the region of Hauts-de-France ; it belongs to the Arrondissement Compiègne and the canton Compiègne-2 .

View of Pierrefonds

Pierrefonds is on the edge of the Compiègne forest . A district of Pierrefonds is Palesne .

history

The town center is not far from Gallo-Roman remains that were found on Mont Berny. This settlement was at the crossroads of the Roman roads Soissons - Beauvais via Champlieu and Soissons - Beauvais through the ford of Compiègne . At that time, this was the edge of a swamp, which is now covered by the Compiègne forest, and which at that time marked the western border of the Gallic Suessiones .

The old castle was destroyed in the 10th century. The new castle was built further west, near the forest on a hill. The village was formed at the foot of this hill. In the 11th century, the rule of Pierrefonds under Nivelon I († around 1072) included part of the forests of Compiègne (now called Forêt de Cuise), Retz , Chelles , Couloisy , Croutoy , Haute-Fontaine , Jaulzy , Saint-Etienne , Retheuil , Montigny-Langrain , Taillefontaine , Mortefontaine etc. Pierrefonds was the largest of six castle lordships (châtelleries) in the county of Valois . King Louis XIII 1616 had Pierrefonds besieged by Charles de Valois, duc d'Angoulême , after the capture Richelieu ordered the destruction of the castle.

In the Second Empire, Pierrefonds was a spa town under the name Pierrefonds-les-Bains ; during this time the castle was rebuilt.

Population development

year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2017
Residents	1548	1531	1474	1376	1548	1945	2039	1808
Sources: Cassini and INSEE

Attractions

Pierrefonds Castle , restored by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century .
Château de Jonval, whose chapel is a copy of that from Chantilly Castle .
Saint-Sulpice church with crypt of the Romanesque

Pierrefonds Castle
Château de Jonval
Saint-Sulpice church
Former train station
Fallen memorial
Former Kurhaus

Town twinning

Zwingenberg , Hessen, Germany, since 1968
Pel, Mali
Pierrefonds-Roxboro , Québec, Canada

Personalities

Carlo Bugatti (1856–1940), designer, decorator and architect
Lucien Lacaze (1860–1955), journalist, admiral, member of the Académie française
Camille Corot (1796–1875), Paul Huet (1803–1869) and Eugène Lavieille painted in Pierrefonds, especially views of the castle. A painting Vue du château de Pierrefonds (around 1840–1845) by Corot is in the Musée des Beaux-arts in Quimper .

literature

Louis Graves: Cantons d'Attichy et de Compiègne Volume X, éditions Res Universis (Paris), 1991; New edition of the Précis statistique sur le canton d'Attichy and the Précis statistique sur le canton de Compiègne by Louis Graves, from the Annuaire de l'Oise (1836)

Web links

Commons : Pierrefonds - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Office de tourisme of the region: pierrefonds-tourisme.com