Le Plessis-Robinson

History

Plessis was first mentioned in 839 as Plessiacus apud Castanetum, meaning plessis near Castanetum. A plessis was a village surrounded by a fence made of branches. In 1112 the village church was founded, of which the romanesque tower still survives as the oldest monument of Le Plessis. At the end of the 12th the village was renamed Le Plessis-Raoul, after the local lord Raoul, chamberlain of king Philip II of France. In 1407 it came into the hands of Jean Piquet de La Haye, who built the Château du Plessis-Robinson in the village, now called Le Plessis-Piquet in around 1412.

In 1614 a monastery of the Congregation of the Feuillants was built in the village. In 1682 Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Minister of Finances under Louis XIV had a pond dug which fed the fountains of the nearby Château de Sceaux. Pierre de Montesquiou d'Artagnan purchased the Château du Plessis-Robinson in 1699, and expanded the gardens. In 1790, as a result of the French Revolution, Antoine Moullé was elected the first mayor of Le Plessis. The commune was renamed Le Plessis-Liberté. The monastery was nationalised and demolished.

The commune was renamed back to Le Plessis-Piquet in 1801. In 1848, a guinguette (cabaret) was established in the area as a suite of interconnected tree houses. It was named Le grand Robinson after the tree house described in Swiss Family Robinson, a novel itself named after Robinson Crusoe. Several other popular establishments arose in the area and remained popular until the 1960s. In 1909, the commune of Le Plessis-Piquet was officially renamed Le Plessis-Robinson, after Le grand Robinson. In 1854, Louis Hachette bought the Château du Plessis-Robinson and the grounds. He later became the mayor of Le Plessis-Piquet and a city councillor. The village and the Château du Plessis-Robinson were ruined in the Franco-Prussian War, but the château was rebuilt by the Hachette family. It became the Hôtel de Ville in 1931.

Population

| graph-pos = bottom |1793 |235 |1800 |267 |1806 |245 |1821 |199 |1831 |217 |1836 |201 |1841 |234 |1846 |192 |1851 |259 |1856 |271 |1861 |321 |1866 |338 |1872 |266 |1876 |326 |1881 |348 |1886 |407 |1891 |397 |1896 |475 |1901 |549 |1906 |611 |1911 |686 |1921 |1027 |1926 |2299 |1931 |4713 |1936 |7779 |1946 |10118 |1954 |13163 |1962 |18449 |1968 |22590 |1975 |22231 |1982 |21271 |1990 |21289 |1999 |21618 |2007 |23242 |2012 |28673 |2017 |29100

New Urbanism

In 2023 Le Plessis-Robinson is considered as the most significant project of New Urbanism in France. Philippe Pemezec, mayor between 1989 and 2018, started a project to reshape the city, in collaboration with the architects Marc & Nada Breitman, winners of the 2018 Driehaus Prize and part of the New Classical movement. Philippe Pemezec

Transport

Le Plessis-Robinson is not served by the Paris Métro, RER, or the suburban rail network. The closest station to Le Plessis-Robinson is Robinson station on Paris RER line B. This station is located in the neighbouring commune of Sceaux, 1.5 km from the town centre of Le Plessis-Robinson.

Education

Primary schools include two groups of nurseries and preschools, five standalone nurseries/preschools (maternelles), four standalone elementaries, and Ecole Raymond Aumont.

Secondary schools:

• Two junior high schools: Collège Claude Nicolas Ledoux and Collège Romain Rolland
• One senior high school: Lycée Montesquieu

Sites of interest

• Château park

Twin towns

Le Plessis-Robinson is twinned with the following towns:

• UK Woking, United Kingdom
• ARM Arabkir, Yerevan, Armenia

References

References

1. (30 November 2023). "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises.
2. (1895). "Mémoires de la Société des antiquaires de France". Imprimerie de Crapelet.
3. [http://www.plessis-robinson.com/fr/decouvrir-la-ville/histoire-du-plessis-robinson/le-plessis-robinson-au-fil-des-siecles/le-plessis-du-moyen-age-a-la-revolution.html History of Le Plessis-Robinson (Middle Ages until Revolution)]
4. [http://www.plessis-robinson.com/fr/decouvrir-la-ville/histoire-du-plessis-robinson/le-plessis-robinson-au-fil-des-siecles/les-transformations-du-xixe-siecle-au-plessis-piquet.html History of Le Plessis-Robinson (19th century)]
5. [http://www.plessis-robinson.com/fr/decouvrir-la-ville/histoire-du-plessis-robinson/le-plessis-robinson-au-fil-des-siecles/les-guinguettes-de-robinson.html History of Le Plessis-Robinson (Guinguettes)]
6. "Hôtel de Ville". Town of Le Plessis-Robinson.
7. {{Cassini-Ehess. 27131. Le Plessis-Robinson
8. [https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-92060#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE
9. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20160310214746/http://www.plessis-robinson.com/vie-pratique/enfance-et-petite-enfance/ecoles-maternelles-et-elementaires/les-ecoles.html Les écoles." Le Plessis-Robinson. Retrieved on September 9, 2016.]
10. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20160403050959/http://www.plessis-robinson.com/vie-pratique/jeunesse/informations-scolaires/les-etablissements.html Les établissements]." Le Plessis-Robinson. Retrieved on 9 September 2016.
11. [http://www.plessis-robinson.com/vie-municipale/jumelage.html Commune website]
12. "British towns twinned with French towns ''[via WaybackMachine.com]''". Archant Community Media Ltd.
13. "Woking Town twinning". The Woking Town Twinning Association.