Ablon-sur-Seine

Ablon-sur-Seine (French pronunciation: [ablɔ̃ syʁ sɛn] , literally Ablon on Seine) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 15.3 km (9.5 mi) from the centre of Paris.

Ablon has been awarded one flower in the Concours des villes et villages fleuris ("towns and villages in bloom competition").

Geography

Ablon-sur-Seine is an urban commune located some 15 kilometres (9 miles) to the south-east of the centre of Paris immediately to the east of Orly Airport.

As it is an urban commune there are numerous roads in the commune with the most important being the D266 going north to the Centre de Finances Publiques and the D29 / D246 / D2498 which run west to east along the south of the commune parallel with the Seine.

The main railway from the Gare d'Austerlitz to Bordeaux runs south-west through the commune, and Ablon station is served by regional express trains on (RER) Line C.

The Seine river forms the whole southern border of the commune. The whole of the western border and the Seine are also the border between the Val-de-Marne and Essonne departments. There is no bridge from the commune across the Seine.

History

Ablon-sur-Seine is situated 4 leagues from Paris, that is 10 km (6 mi).

Henri IV, by the Edict of Nantes in March 1598, allowed Protestants to practice their faith outside the walls of Paris. He authorized the construction of a Protestant church at Ablons.

There was a castle built in Ablon by Agnes Sorel and a Protestant church which was frequented until the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by the Reformed Parisians.

The economic activity Ablon has always been linked to the river but a cropping part of its economy was favoured by its loamy soils. It has been traditionally a residential commune, with the urban area mainly residential.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Ablon-sur-Seine

Mayors from 1941

Twinning

Ablon-sur-Seine has twinning associations with:

• Penkridge (United Kingdom) since 1986
• Neubiberg (Germany) since 1975.

Population

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Ablonais or Ablonaises in French.

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has many buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments:

Religious heritage

• The Parish Church of Our Lady of the Assumption (1842) is registered as an historical monument. The Church contains many items that are registered as historical objects:

Education

Public schools:

• Preschools: Ecole maternelle Marie Curie and Ecole maternelle Saint-Exupéry
• Elementary schools: Ecoles élémentaire Louis Pasteur A and Ecoles élémentaire Louis Pasteur B

Students in this commune are served by Collège Jean Macé (junior high school) and Collège / Lycée Georges Brassens (junior and senior high school), both in Villeneuve-le-Roi.

There is one private school called Sacré-Cœur (Sacred Heart), which serves preschool through junior high school.

Cultural events and festivals

From 2001 to 2008, Ablon has organised various cultural events. An independent association, It was once Ablon, organised these events to enable people to experience the history of the town and its inhabitants arouse a community spirit in Ablon people. Some events have left their mark on the town including the grand historical rally with themes such as "Discovering neighbourhoods", "the old trades of Ablon", "a Castle Mystery", etc..

Other cultural activities include the festival "Your Neighbours Have Talent", which hosted painters, sculptors, photographers, and musicians from the region. This festival also hosted young artists from the National Conservatory of Paris, artists, and recent graduates from fine art schools.

Another event highly appreciated by all generations of the city was cyber-Ablon, organized over a whole weekend. This event allowed the even the oldest people to learn office skills such as Internet browsing, email, Word, Excel etc. and for younger ones to come together for network games.

For 8 March, the association proposed an event to mark the International Day of Women's Rights (films, exhibition of paintings and photographs, conferences etc.). The municipal council took this activity under consideration.

Dormant since 2008, the life of the association has been suspended.

Picture Gallery

Notable people linked to the commune

• Jacques-Antoine de Chambarlhac de Laubespin, born at Les Estables 2 August 1754, died in Paris 23 February 1826, a General of the Empire
• Claudine Guérin de Tencin (1682-1749) owned a house in Ablon where she loved to come on holiday
• Alain Poher (1909-1996), former president of the Senate, born in Ablon he was Mayor from 1946 to 1983

See also

• Communes of the Val-de-Marne department

References

External links

• Ablon-sur-Seine official website (in French)
• Ablon-sur-Seine on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (in French)
• Ablon on the 1750 Cassini Map