Maisons-Laffitte
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Through Regions of France, Paris and United Kingdom
Maisons-Laffitte is famous for the Château de Maisons-Laffitte, built by architect François Mansart in the 17th century, and its horse racing track, the Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse. Église Saint-Nicolas was built between 1867 and 1872.
History
Originally called Maisons-sur-Seine (meaning "Houses upon Seine"), the commune was officially renamed Maisons-Laffitte in 1882 in honour of banker Jacques Laffitte who financed the housing developments on the estate of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte.
The Château de Maisons-Laffitte has a secret passage to what once used to be part of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte but which is now a school – Collège de l'Ermitage.
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Population
Landmarks
Maisons-Laffitte is famous for the Château de Maisons-Laffitte, built by architect François Mansart in the 17th century. Maisons-Laffitte is also known for its horse racing track, the Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse, which is why the town is known as the "cité du cheval" and compared with Newmarket in the United Kingdom.
Église Saint-Nicolas was mainly built between 1867 and 1872 under architect Eugène Millet, on the land of an old cemetery. It was consecrated in 1872 by Jean-Pierre Mabile, the bishop of Versailles.
Transport
Maisons-Laffitte is served by Maisons-Laffitte station on Paris RER line A and on the Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare suburban rail line.
Notable residents
- Pape-Philippe Amagou, basketball player
- Grégory Baugé, cyclist
- Eugène Louis Bouvier, zoologist
- Jean Cocteau, writer, filmmaker, and artist
- Jerzy Giedroyc, founder and editor of a leading Polish-émigré literary-political journal, Kultura
- Philippe Jaroussky, opera singer
- Coralie Lassource, handball player
- René Le Roy (1898–1985), classical flautist
- Odd Nerdrum, painter
- Randy de Puniet, motorcycle racer
- Anne Queffélec, pianist
- Yvonne Rokseth, composer and musicologist
- Emma Watson (until the age of five), actress
- James Winkfield, jockey, horse trainer
- Ghislaine Maxwell, British socialite known for her association with Jeffrey Epstein
Education
Public schools:
- Six preschools/nurseries (maternelles): Bois-Bonnet, Clos-Lainé, Cocteau, Colbert, La Renarde, Montebello
- Four elementary schools: Jehan Alain/André Ledreux, Colbert, Le Prieuré, Mansart
- Junior high schools (collèges): Jean Cocteau and Le Prieuré
- Senior high schools/sixth-form colleges: Lycée Évariste Galois (Sartrouville) and Lycée Les Pierres Vives (Carrières sur Seine)
Private schools:
- International School of France / L'Ermitage (preschool to senior high)
- Sainte-Marie (preschool and elementary)
- Ecole Montessori Internationale
Twin towns – sister cities
Since 2023, Maisons-Laffitte is exclusively and reciprocally twinned with Arkadag city, Turkmenistan.