Orsay
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the museum in Paris, see Musée d'Orsay.
| Commune of Orsay | |
| Location | |
| Longitude | 02° 11' 18" E |
| Latitude | 48° 41' 56" N |
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Île-de-France |
| Department | Essonne |
| Arrondissement | Palaiseau |
| Canton | Orsay (chief town) |
| Intercommunality | Communauté d'agglomération du Plateau de Saclay |
| Mayor | Marie-Hélène Aubry (UMP) (2001-2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Altitude | 51 m–160 m (avg. 90 m) |
| Land area¹ | 7.97 km² |
| Population² (1999 census) |
16,236 |
| - Density (1999) | 2,037/km² |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 91471/ 91400 |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| ² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel). | |
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Orsay is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 20.7 km. (12.9 miles) from the center of Paris.
Contents |
[edit] History
There has been a village called Orsay on this site since 999, and the first church there was consecrated in 1157. From the sixteenth century, the town and surrounding area were owned by the Boucher family, and it was in honour of this family that Louis XIV gave the quai d'Orsay its name. This is reason that the Musée d'Orsay is not in Orsay. In the eighteenth century, the family of Grimod du Fort bought the land and received the title of comte d'Orsay.
In 1957, largely due to the influence of Frédéric et Irène Joliot-Curie, the Institut de physique nucléaire (nuclear physics institute) was opened in the Chevreuse valley, and the region, especially Orsay, became an important scientific centre. Another development was the creation of the université de Paris-Sud, whose most important faculty is the faculty of science.
On February 19, 1977, a part of the territory of Orsay was detached and merged with a part of the territory of Bures-sur-Yvette to create the commune of Les Ulis.
[edit] Transport
Orsay is served by two stations on Paris RER line B: Le Guichet and Orsay – Ville.
[edit] Neighborhoods of Orsay
- Le Guichet
- Mondétour
- Le Petit Madagascar
- Corbeville
[edit] Nearby towns
- Bures-sur-Yvette
- Gif-sur-Yvette
- Saclay
- Palaiseau
- Villebon-sur-Yvette
- Les Ulis
[edit] Places of worship
Orsay has only one Catholic church — Saint-Martin – Saint-Laurent, opposite the town hall.
[edit] Civil heritage
[edit] Forested areas
- The Bois des Rames around the university campus
- The Bois Persan
[edit] Architecture
- la Grande Bouvêche
- la Pacaterie
- le Temple de la Gloire
- le château de Corbeville
[edit] Miscellaneous
[edit] English Speaking Expatriates
Banlieue towns of the Île de France tend to depend a lot on Paris for administration purposes and other facilities. The centre of Paris is also a haven for several English speaking nationalities and EU expatriates, however in outlying towns such as this one there isn't the network that caters for these groups.
Generally, via the internet, a look on services such as Yahoo Groups can yield a few useful resources with expat groups such as Live in France, English Speakers in France, Paris Sud or Webvivant. All of these can provide much needed advice and friendship to English speaking residents of the Île de France.
[edit] References
Orsay. Wikipėdia — L'encyclopédie libre. Retrieved on October 14, 2005. (in French)
[edit] External links
- Orsay official website (in French)
