Sèvres

Location

Sèvres is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, 10.5 km (6.5 mi) to the west of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, with an eastern edge by the River Seine. The commune borders the Île Seguin, an island in the River Seine, in the commune of Boulogne-Billancourt, adjoining Sèvres.

Geology and landforms

The area of the commune is 391 hectares (970 acres). The altitude varies between 27–171 metres (89–561 ft).

Work at Sèvres, including for the construction of the expressway, permitted an update of interesting fossils in different geological layers. For example, in chalk, some types of sea urchins, belemnite beaks, rhynchonellas, and oysters were found; in the coarse limestone, ammonites.

Hydrography

Climate

The climate of île-de-France is oceanic. The popular observation stations for meteorology at Sèvres are Orly and Vélizy-Villacoublay airport.

The climate in the departments of the small Parisian crown is characterised by sunshine and relatively low precipitation. The following table allows a comparison of the île-de-France climate with that of some large French cities:

The following table shows the monthly averages of temperature and precipitation for the station of Orly collected over the period 1961-1990:

Roads

Sèvres is traversed from side to side by the RN 10, today downgraded and allowing connection of the city to Boulogne-Billancourt and Chaville. It is also the starting point of the RN 118 at the level of the Pont de Sèvres.

Cycle paths

Sèvres presents a main traffic artery which supports important transit traffic at morning and evening peak hours. This allows preservation of its secondary residential purpose from suffering the negative effects of through traffic, and on which the development zone 30 was under study, as early as 2007. The city hall has, however, launched a reconsideration on these routes for sharing public spaces in favour of soft links (comfortable pavements, if possible with the development of cycle paths) and the use of public transit where they pass (comfortable bus stops, creation of own sites where technical conditions permit). Since November 2011, fifteen streets have two-way cycle lanes. They are the subject of ground markings and installation of specific signaling panels:

Public transport

Bus routes 169, 171, 179, and 426 of the RATP bus network, route 469 of the Établissement Transdev de Nanterre [Transdev establishment of Nanterre], route 45 in the Phébus bus network and at night by N61 and N145 of the Noctilien route network. The city makes one minibus available to people with reduced mobility, L'autre Bus [The Other Bus].

Rail

Sèvres is served by Sèvres-Rive-Gauche station on the Transilien Paris – Montparnasse suburban rail line.

It is also served by Sèvres – Ville d'Avray station on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line.

It is also served by the Musée de Sèvres and Brimborion stations on Line 2 of the Tramway of Île-de-France which links Paris - Porte de Versailles and La Défense.

Urban morphology

INSEE has divided the commune into ten islets grouped for statistical information.

The commune of Sèvres includes 16 quarters, named as follows:

Housing

In the project planning and sustainable development (PADD) approved 10 May 2007, the commune displays an ambition to maintain its population around its situation of early 2005. It has a commitment to offer every household in the commune the opportunity to live and grow in Sèvres, and a stake in preserving its fabric of facilities and local businesses. Studies conducted in the context of the PLH show that by 2015, this would involve the construction of approximately 40 homes per year (taking into account of the transformation of the former park, of the reduction of the vacancy rate and the loosening of household size) to maintain the communal population.

In 2005, the commune had 24.5% of its total as social housing. These homes are mostly located along the RD 910, around the city centre. The commune displays a desire to preserve this social mix by ensuring a diversity of different types of housing, under the framework of future construction operations. As such, it shows the will to maintain its social housing stock at around 25% of the total stock of main residences. On the other hand, private rental declined between 1990 and 1999. An effort in favour of this type of housing will be always sought in order to maintain the diversity of population profiles. Some areas of the city are poorly provided with social housing, and the development of this type of housing should allow a better balance across the commune.

Development projects

The main projects are:

Toponymy

The name of the locality is attested as Savara in the 6th century, originating from the name of the stream which followed the Valley of Viroflay, Chaville, Sèvres. Then in the forms of Villa Savara in the 6th century,Saura, Saure, Savra, Saevara in the 11th century, Severa, Sepera and Separa in the 13th century, Sevra, Sièvre, Saives, Sèvre-en-France-lez-paris from the 14th century, before Sèvres.

Sèvres took the name of the river which ran through it. Sèvres includes radical sav-, sab-, in the sense of "hollow" or radical sam- "quiet". These radicals are often used in hydronymy.

The root is the same for the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise which gave its name to the Department of the Deux-Sèvres.

History

A treaty was signed in the large room which currently houses the Museum of Porcelain at Sèvres, it was a peace treaty between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire, to the detriment of the latter.

Protocols of Sèvres (sometimes referred to as 'agreements') are a secret seven-point agreement recording in writing a tripartite agreement between Israel, France and Great Britain in response to the nationalisation of the Suez Canal by the Egyptian leader Nasser.

Political trends and results

Since the elections of 2007, Sèvres belongs to the communes of more than 3,500 inhabitants, using voting machines.

In the referendum on the Constitutional Treaty for Europe on 29 May 2005, the Sevriens mostly voted for the European Constitution, with 69.93% in favour against 30.07% not in favour, with a 24.08% abstention rate (entire France: No at 54.67%, Yes at 45.33%).

At the 2007 French presidential election, the first round saw Nicolas Sarkozy in the lead with 35.58% or 4,750 votes, followed by Ségolène Royal with 26,09% or 3,212 votes, and then François Bayrou with 23.35% or 2,875 votes, no other candidates exceeded the threshold of 5%. In the second round, 56.40% or 6,661 voted for Nicolas Sarkozy with 43.60% or 5,149 voting for Ségolène Royal, a result which was more disposed than the national average. In the second round, 53.06% voted for Nicolas Sarkozy and 46.94% for Ségolène Royal. For this presidential election, the turnout rate was very high. There were 18,455 registered voters in Sèvres, 89.56% or 16,528 voters participated in the ballot, the abstention rate was 10.44% or 1,927 votes, with 0.54% or 90 votes conducted as a blank vote, and finally 99.46% or 16,438 votes were cast.

In the municipal elections of 2014, a list of the Miscellaneous Right led by Grégoire de La Roncière opposed the list led by the outgoing mayor, François Kosciusko-Morizet (UMP), and then by Laurence Roux-Fouillet after the withdrawal of the latter. In the second round, on 30 March, the Miscellaneous Right list gained two more votes than the UMP list (3279 votes against 3277). On 4 April, Grégoire de La Roncière was elected Mayor of Sèvres by the new municipal council.

Municipal government

Sèvres has implemented a Communal Youth Council, so as to involve young people in the life of the commune.

List of mayors

Since 1971, five mayors have succeeded in Sèvres:

Judicial and administrative authorities

Sèvres is within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal d'instance as well as in that of the police court in Boulogne-Billancourt.

Environmental policy

The municipality wishes to enhance its environmental richness (forests, banks of the Seine, built heritage, topography, etc.) which is an asset in terms of image for the city and quality of life for its inhabitants: "It should preserve those elements which are the links of a string of parks and gardens which are also involved in large landscape continuity, of opportunities for walks and tours at an intercommunal level".

Twin towns

Sèvres is twinned with:

Furthermore, the commune of Sèvres signed a cooperation agreement with the Mărăcineni commune in Romania, in 1991.

Intercommunality

The commune of Sèvres was a member of the Agglomeration Community of Val de Seine and is a member of the Communauté d'agglomération Grand Paris Seine Ouest since its inception on 27 November 2008, along with the communes of Boulogne-Billancourt, Chaville, Issy-les-Moulineaux, Meudon, Vanves and Ville-d'Avray.

Demographic evolution

In 2012, the commune had 23,572 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses carried out in the town since 1793. From the 21st century, the communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants have a census take place every year as a result of a sample survey, unlike the other communes which have a real census every five years.

Age structure

The population of the commune is relatively young. The rate of people over 60 years age (17.7%) is higher than the national rate (21.6%) while being less, however, than the departmental rate (17.7%).

Like national and departmental allocations, the female population of the municipality is greater than the male population. The rate (52.2%) is of the same order of magnitude as the national rate (51.6%). In 2007, the distribution of the population of the town by age group is as follows:

Education

The city administers six nursery schools and five primary schools.

The department manages a middle school (collège) and the region of Île-de-France a senior high school/sixth-form college (lycée) by the name of Lycée Jean-Pierre-Vernant in memory of the Compagnon de la Libération and historian. The college/high school welcomes the international sections of Sèvres (bilingual French/English and French/German) recognised for their excellence. These international sections prepare undergraduate French and OIB (Baccalauréat International Option).

Sèvres also boasts a private institution (school and college): The Jeanne-d'Arc [Joan of Arc] School.

The École supérieure de fonderie et de forge, a private engineering college is also installed on the territory of the commune, in the middle of the technical centre of the foundry industries

History of education

The Maison d'enfants de Sèvres operated from September 1941, under the direction of Yvonne Hagnauer (Goéland), until November 1958 at 14 Rue Croix-Bosset. It then moved to the Château de Bussières, on the opposite bank of the Seine. In 1991 it became the College Jean-Marie-Guyot.

The École normale supérieure of young girls was created in Sèvres in 1881. It then moved to Boulevard Jourdan, Paris, before merging with the École Normale Supérieure, in 1985. It held the old buildings of the porcelain factory, which today houses the International Centre for pedagogical studies.

Cultural events and festivities

On the last Saturday of September is "The Dictation of Sèvres" writing competition. This has been held since 2007.

Health

Sèvres is home to one of the sites of the Centre Hospitalier de 4 Villes [Central Hospital of 4 cities]. Since 1 January 2006, this centre brings together the Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal Jean Rostand, (which already included Chaville, Sèvres and Ville d'Avray) and the Centre Hospitalier de Saint-Cloud. The site of Sèvres specialises in hospitalisation and consultation in maternity/gynaecology/fertility and medical services.

Sport

Sèvres hosts the French Federation of Sport Blowgun (France Sport Blowgun Association), founded in 2004 by Stéphane Jouanneau (Blowgun Long-Distance Vice World Champion).

The Sèvres Football Club senior team is currently coached by Alexandre Matejic, a former professional footballer, and winner of the 2004–2005 Coupe Gambardella with Toulouse FC. Operating in the departmental divisions, Sèvres FC just missed reaching the 4th round of the Coupe de France 2008-2009. Indeed, playing against Red Star (then in CFA) at the Fountains Stadium, Sèvres FC opened the score in the 7th minute through Thomas Millet. The score remained at 1-0 for seventy-five minutes, until the equalisation by Demba Diagouraga, for the team from Saint-Ouen. The Sèvres team, however, collapsed in overtime and lost four goals, giving the 'Greens' a 5-1 win after extra time.

Having been a location which the 2012 Tour de France passed through on that year's final stage, Sèvres will host the departure for Stage 21, the final stage of the 2015 Tour de France, on 26 July, heading towards the year's ultimate finish line on the Champs-Élysées.

Media

Sèvres has been host to the internet radio station GOOM Radio, since 2007.

Worship

Sèvres has places of Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant and Buddhist worship.

Catholic worship

Since January 2010, the commune of Sèvres is part of the deanery of the hills, one of the nine deaneries of the Diocese of Nanterre.

Within this deanery, places of Catholic worship under the two parishes of Sèvres are:

Protestant worship

Reformed Church of France (Sequoia Parish Centre)

Jewish worship

Jewish Community of Sèvres

Muslim worship

Association of Muslims of Sèvres

Buddhist faith

It is at Sèvres where the Tinh Tam pagoda is situated.

Income of the population and taxation

In 2010, the median taxable household income was €44,450, which ranked Sèvres at 960th position among the 31,525 communes with more than 39 households in metropolitan France.

Employment

In 2007, the communal employment rate was close to 100% (10,369 jobs for 10,607 employable people who resided in Sèvres), which corresponds to the objective which was set out in the blueprint of the Val de Seine, to the horizon of 2015.

Places and monuments

The commune includes many listed monuments in the general inventory of French cultural heritage.

The Church of Saint-Romain-de-Blaye

The church offers an amalgam of Gothic, redesigned and damaged by the 17th century: Outdoors, there is a clerestory tower which was disfigured. The rounded roof has been largely preserved, but it is much uncovered. The Way of the Cross, painted on porcelain, comes from the Manufacture de Sèvres, and stained glass windows, more than a century old. This church was inaugurated several times.

It was founded by the Merovingian King Dagobert II in the 7th century, it was a Royal Parish under Marie Leszczyńska. The first municipal assembly, created by the edict of 1787, consisted of two members: The lord, namely King Louis XVI, and the priest, as well as nine other elected members. This assembly met in the church at the end of vespers or high mass.

This church was listed in the inventory of historical monuments in 1937.

Its bell, called Anette, was blessed in 1760 and listed in the inventory of historical monuments on 27 April 1944.

The rectory was built between 1744 and 1786.

The Church of Our Lady of Bruyères

This chapel was built in 1930, on the edge of the Route des Gardes. Established as a parish in 1962, destroyed in 1971, it was rebuilt at 23 rue du Docteur Roux in 1968.

The Armenian College

This building, located 26 Rue Troyon, was given to the Pompadour for a school for girls. It was rebuilt for Bacler d'Albe between 1816 (cadastre) and 1824 (death of general). Occupied in 1898 by a convalescent home for colonial soldiers, it is currently the Samuel Moorat Armenian College, but it is currently threatened, taking into account its state.

The manufacture of crystals of the Queen

The building of this factory, located at 16 Rue Troyon and built in 1744, was classified in the inventory of historical monuments on 1 December 1986.

The Manufacture nationale de Sèvres

The current building dates from 1876. This building was classified in the inventory of historical monuments on 30 October 1935. The Manufacture nationale de Sèvres is a public establishment manufacturing ceramic in the tradition of the 18th century.

The Maison des Jardies

The Maison des Jardies is the home of Balzac, Corot and Gambetta who died there on 31 December 1882.

This house, located 14 Avenue Gambetta, had been bought by Balzac, which he occupied from 1837 to 1840, and was then leased by Gambetta in 1878.

National Ceramic Museum

Founded in 1824 by Alexandre Brongniart, director of the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, under the name of Ceramic and Vitric Museum. Anxious to present the history of the techniques of ceramics and vitreous materials, through the world and eras, the latter was one of the collections of ceramics of the most varied. The Museum brings together an exceptional selection of pottery, ceramics and porcelain.

The Pavillon de Breteuil

Tinh Tam Buddhist Temple

The magnificent Buddhist temple or Tinh Tam pagoda is one of the busiest in France.

Castel Henriette Villa

The Castel Henriette Villa, built in 1899, the absolute masterpiece of Hector Guimard, was demolished in 1969.

This house, located 46 Rue des Binelles, at the corner of the Rue des Gérideaux, was built and decorated in 1899 by Hector Guimard, at the top of a sloping site bounded on three sides by streets. It was demolished in April 1969.

Stone quarries

These stone quarries were dug into the hillside and used for wine storage in 1740, divided into 30 galleries including one called Royal Gallery; converted into a brasserie in 1840, which burned down in 1880 and was rebuilt in 1898.

Religious institutions

The presence of nuns who teach at Sèvres dates back to 1788 date where an Act set out four sisters of charity for the education of poor girls. At Sèvres, on Rue Gabriel Péri, were formerly the convent, school and boarding school of the Dominican teachers of Most Holy-Rosary of Sèvres, work encouraged by the Holy curé d'Ars, founded by the Sister Marie-Rose of the Sacred Heart Order of Preachers at the end of the 19th century, with Fr. Codant, in 1858, of which novices carried the name of servants of the Sacred Heart and had several foundations, in San Remo for example during the exile from France in 1903, and also an orphanage, Rue Troyon (they returned to France in 1913 and asked for Government permission to reopen a novitiate). During the war an ambulance and infirmary for wounded soldiers was installed in the convent.

On some old postcards, one can admire the Chapel of the Assumptionists, located at 14 Rue de la Croix-Bosset in the quarter of La Croix-Bosset. This property, acquired on 30 April 1874, was offered to the religious of the assumption at the end of the year 1877 to become the Paris novitiate outside the city. The Oblates of the Assumption also settled in Sèvres and then a community of Assumptionist sisters. Finally, the religious of the province of Paris between 1946 and 1964, a lively workers' mission centre of Saint-Étienne in Sèvres, on Avenue Division Leclerc, a community called La Cloche, close to the Renault factories.

Sèvres and artworks

Sèvres, near Paris but very rustic, attracted the greatest painters:

Sèvres and philately

The French Post Office has developed several times Sèvres à l'Honneur:

On 25 March 1957, a postage stamp was issued with a face value of 30.00 Francs, honouring the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, drawn and engraved by Pierre Munier.

On 1 June 1975, a postage stamp was issued with a face value of 1.00 Francs, representing the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, drawn and engraved by Claude Haley.

On 10 January 2009, a postage stamp was issued with a face value of €0.55, representing a Quimper flat oval earthenware, displayed by the Museum of Sèvres.

Sèvres and television

The city of Sèvres is the scene for the filming of the French television series Fais pas ci, fais pas ça.

Personalities linked to the commune