Vincennes

This article is about the French commune Vincennes. For other uses, see Vincennes (disambiguation).
Vincennes

The city hall

Coat of arms

Paris and inner ring departments
Coordinates: 48°50′52″N 2°26′21″E / 48.8478°N 2.4392°E / 48.8478; 2.4392Coordinates: 48°50′52″N 2°26′21″E / 48.8478°N 2.4392°E / 48.8478; 2.4392
Country France
Region Île-de-France
Department Val-de-Marne
Arrondissement Nogent-sur-Marne
Canton 2 cantons
Government
 • Mayor (2014–2020) Laurent Lafon (UDI)
Area1 1.91 km2 (0.74 sq mi)
Population (2013)2 49,695
 • Density 26,000/km2 (67,000/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 94080 / 94300

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.

Vincennes (French pronunciation: ​[vɛ̃sɛn]) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 6.7 km (4.2 mi) from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.

History

The Marquis de Sade was imprisoned in Vincennes fortress in 1777, where he remained (mainly: he escaped for a little over a month in 1778), until February 1784, when Vincennes fortress was closed and de Sade was transferred to the Bastille. In 1929, the commune of Vincennes lost about half of its territory when the city of Paris annexed the Bois de Vincennes, a large part of which belonged to the commune of Vincennes.

In 1821, the noted French poet, Alfred de Vigny, wrote his poem, "La Prison," which details the last days of The Man in the Iron Mask at Vincennes.

In 1849, a test was conducted on Claude-Étienne Minié's invention the Minié ball which would prove successful and years later be adopted by the French army. Vincennes was also the site of some famous European colonial expositions in the 20th century in which fairs were held to showcase artifacts from former European colonies.

Sights

The city is famous for its castle, the Château de Vincennes, and its park, the Bois de Vincennes hosting the only larger zoo in Paris, Paris Zoological Park (though these two are now within the limits of the City of Paris). It also features a large military fort, now housing various army services. This fort and an adjoining plain known as the "Polygon" has historically been an important proving ground for French armaments.

The city is also home to the Service Historique de la Défense (SHD), which holds the archival records of the French Armed Forces.[1]

Art

In 1933 Georges Saupique was commissioned to work on one of three "dessus-de-porte" to be placed above the doors of the new Vincennes' town hall "salle des fêtes". His composition involved allegorical figures representing commerce and industry supporting the Vincennes' coat of arms

Porcelain

Main article: Vincennes porcelain

In the old royal château, a porcelain manufactory was established in 1740, specializing in imitations of Meissen porcelain and naturalistic flowers, which were incorporated into bouquets under the direction of Parisian marchands-merciers. The Vincennes porcelain factory continued until 1756, when the production was transferred to new buildings at Sèvres, initiating the career of world-famous Sèvres porcelain.

Transport

Vincennes is served by two stations on Paris Métro Line 1: Bérault and Château de Vincennes.

Vincennes is also served by Vincennes station on Paris RER line A.

The public transport network also includes 11 bus lines : 46, 56, 112, 114, 115, 118, 124, 210, 215, 318 and 325.

Twin towns – Sister cities

Vincennes is twinned with:

Vincennes University

In 1970 the "University of Paris VIII" was established in Vincennes as France's first major experiment in open admissions education, as a result of the academic reforms which followed the student risings of 1968. Intended to lessen the French university system's traditional emphasis on formal and elitist schooling, the school (generally known simply as Vincennes) admitted students without the usual entrance requirement of the baccalaureat degree and introduced courses such as the History of Cinema, Sexology, and Third World Economics. Enrollments peaked at 32,000 with more than 40% of students holding full-time jobs off the campus. However problems associated with political unrest and alleged widespread drug usage among the student body led to the resignation of the Vincennes University President and the relocation of the campus to Saint-Denis by the French Government in 1980.[3]

Notable residents

Image gallery

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Service Historique de la Défense. Accessed November 24, 2013.
  2. ↑ "List of Twin Towns in the Ruhr District". © 2009 Twins2010.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-28. External link in |publisher= (help)
  3. ↑ Time Magazine March 31, 1980

External links

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