Sèvres (, ) is a French commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department in the Île-de-France region. As of 2023, the population of the commune was 22,303. The commune is known for its famous porcelain production at the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, which was also where the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) was signed.
Geography Location Sèvres is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, to the southwest of the centre of Paris, with an eastern edge by the river Seine. The commune borders Île Seguin, an island in the Seine, in the commune of Boulogne-Billancourt, adjoining Sèvres.
Geology and landforms The area of the commune is . The altitude varies between .Répertoire géographique des communes, publié par l'Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière,
Work at Sèvres, including for the construction of the expressway, permitted an update of interesting fossils in different geological layers. Notably, in chalk, some types of sea urchins, belemnite beaks, rhynchonellas and oysters were found; in the coarse limestone, ammonites.Jean-Michel Dechambre, Découvrir les Hauts-de-Seine, éditions Horvath, 1980, p.76
Hydrography The Seine The which empties into the Seine upstream of the Pont de Sèvres.
Climate The climate of île-de-France is oceanic. The popular observation stations for meteorology at Sèvres are Orly Airport and Vélizy – Villacoublay Air Base.
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:
+ Comparison of weather conditions CitySunshine(hrs/yr)Rain(mm/yr)Snow(days/yr)Storm(days/yr)Fog(days/yr)National average1973770142240Orly1797615162031Paris1661637121810Nice27247331291Strasbourg1693665292953Brest1605121171275
The following table shows the monthly averages of temperature and precipitation for the station of Orly collected over the period 1961–1990:
+ Weather records in Île-de-France (Orly station 1961–1990)MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSeptOctNovDecNumber of days with frost12.410.37.01.60.00.00.00.00.00.25.411.6Source: Infoclimat
Routes of communication and transport
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:
Avenue de la Cristallerie Rue Brancas, between the Rue de Ville-d'Avray and Rue Bernard-Palissy Grande Rue, between the Rue de Ville-d'Avray and the Place Gabriel-Péri Rue du Docteur Gabriel-Ledermann, between the Rue de Rueil and Rue Jules Sandeau Rue Riocreux, between Place Pierre-Brossolette and Rue de Ville d'Avray Rue Brongniart Rue Léon Journault (between Avenue Camille Sée and Sente Brézin) then Rue Victor-Hugo Rue des Bas-Tillets between Rue Benoît Malon and the Rue de la Garenne Rue Albert Dammouse, between Rue Avice and the Stade des Fontaines turn Rue Rouget-de-l'Isle Rue Jules-Ferry Rue du Docteur Roux Rue Charles-Vaillant Rue Jean-Jaurès Rue des Verrières
Public transport Bus routes , 171, 179, and of the RATP bus network, route of the Établissement Transdev de Nanterre [Transdev establishment of Nanterre], route in the and at night by and 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 on the Transilien Line N 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 Île-de-France tramway Line 2 which links Paris-Porte de Versailles and La Défense.
Urbanism
Urban morphology INSEE has divided the commune into ten islets grouped for statistical information.
The commune of Sèvres includes 16 quarters, named as follows:
1. Bruyères – Acacias – Fonceaux 2. Bruyères – Postillons – Jaurès 3. Val des Bruyères – Allard 4. Ernest Renan 5. Châtaigneraie 6. Beau Site – Pommerets 7. Binelles 8. Manufacture – Brimborion 9. SEL – Division Leclerc 10. Europe – Pierre Midrin 11. Médiathèque – 11 novembre 12. Danton – Gabriel Péri 13. Monesse 14. Croix-Bosset 15. Brancas – Fontenelles 16. Brancas – Beauregard
+Land use in 2003 Type of occupation Percentage AreaBuilt urban space62.70%Unbuilt urban space13.46%Rural areas23.83%Source:
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 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:
The reconstruction of the Croix Bosset school The development of links between the banks of the Seine, the city, parks and woodlands by pedestrian openings designed to develop a frame of soft east–west links. Such as linking Saint-Cloud Park / île Monsieur, between Brimborion Park and the Brimborion tram station, along the Seine, a development project of the entrance of Sèvres and the vicinity of the Museum of Manufacturing by the creation of a pedestrian/bicycle along the Grande Rue, behind the wall of the Museum.
Toponymy The name of the locality is attested as SavaraAlbert Dauzat, Les noms de lieux, Paris, 1926, p.197. in the 6th century,Hippolyte Cocheris, Anciens noms des communes de Seine-et-Oise, 1874, originating from the name of the stream which followed the Valley of Viroflay, Chaville, Sèvres.Michel Roblin, Le terroir de Paris aux époques gallo-romaine et franque, page 273. Then in the forms of Villa Savara in the 6th century, Saura, Saure, Savra, Saevara in the 11th century,Michel Roblin, Le terroir de Paris aux époques gallo-romaine et franque, page 273 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
The town of Sèvres existed in 560, when Saint Germain, Bishop of Paris, healed a sick person and built the church. The Church of Saint-Romain-de-Blaye, current and several times revised, dates from the 13th century. There was a seigniorial château. The Hôtel de Ville dates from about 1630. The manufacture de Sèvres was formed in 1750, by the Ferme générale; they were held by the Marquis de Fulvi who operated at Vincennes. In 1756, Madame de Pompadour transferred the Vincennes porcelain factory to Sèvres. It was moved to the location of the Guyarde, the former resort of Lully. In 1760, Louis XV bought the factory which thus becomes 'royal'. The Pont de Sèvres, which was of wood, was begun in stone in 1809 and finished in 1820. In 1815, the inhabitants of Sèvres, along with some soldiers, tried to resist the Prussians who occupied and looted Sèvres, despite the capitulation signed at Saint-Cloud. During the repression of January and February 1894, the police conducted raids targeting the anarchists living there, without much success. The Treaty of Sèvres (10 August 1920) 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.
The Protocols of Sèvres (21 to 24 October 1956) 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.
In 1961, the renovation of old town centre, which was unhealthy, accompanied by the deviation of the RN 10, was committed to by the municipality of Dr. Odic, and included the demolition of 1,500 houses and the construction of 1,600 new houses, along with of offices or commercial premises. The municipality of Jean Caillonneau redirected urbanisation at the end of the 1980s to promote the establishment of offices in order to "remake Sèvres as a dynamic and industrious city".
Politics and administration
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, Sévriens 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 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.