Pontoise
Encyclopedia
Pontoise is a commune
in the northwestern suburbs of Paris
, France
. It is located 28.4 km (17.6 mi) from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise
.
(capital) of the Val-d'Oise
département, although in reality the préfecture building and administration, as well as the department council (conseil général), are located inside the neighboring commune of Cergy
, which is regarded as the de facto capital of Val-d'Oise.
Pontoise is also the seat of the Arrondissement of Pontoise
. The sous-préfecture
building and administration, unlike the préfecture, are located inside the commune of Pontoise.
français. Its foundation dates from the Roman
times (Pontisara). At that time, the rock piton overhanging the river Oise
supported the defense of the ford which was on the Roman road
, the Chaussée Jules César
, between Lutetia
(Paris
) and Rotomagus (Rouen
). The road still exists and is now part of the N14 from Paris to Rouen.
of 1999, the population was .
The estimate for 2005 was .
station, a terminus on Paris RER line C
and an intermediate terminus for suburban trains originating from Gare Saint-Lazare
as well as a terminus for suburban trains from Gare du Nord
. Some trains originating at Gare Saint-Lazare
continue onto Gisors
. Bus services operate in and around Pontoise with transport interchanges situated Place Charles de Gaulle and Parking Canrobert.
Pontoise – Cormeilles Aerodrome is the area airport.
Pontoise is one of the capitals of the impressionist
movement. Many painters took as a starting point the city and its area for the creation of landscapes. Camille Pissarro
lived there for seventeen years. Other artists lived or worked in the area such as Vincent van Gogh
(Auvers-sur-Oise
), Paul Cézanne
, Paul Gauguin
, Charles-François Daubigny
, Gustave Caillebotte
, etc.
It was here that one of the most successful alchemysts was born, Nicolas Flamel.
department (88.15 per 1000). Cergy-pontoise is one of the more dangerous city of the Val-d'Oise
département after Sarcelles
, Garges-les-Gonesse
, Villiers-le-Bel
and Argenteuil
.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the northwestern suburbs of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It is located 28.4 km (17.6 mi) from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise
Cergy-Pontoise
Cergy-Pontoise is a new town in France, in the Val d'Oise département, northwest of Paris on the Oise River. It owes its name to two of the communes that it covers, Cergy and Pontoise....
.
Administration
Pontoise is the official préfecturePréfecture
A prefecture in France can refer to :*the Chef-lieu de département, the town in which the administration of a department is located;*the Chef-lieu de région, the town in which the administration of a region is located;...
(capital) of the Val-d'Oise
Val-d'Oise
Val-d'Oise is a French department, created in 1968 after the split of the Seine-et-Oise department and located in the Île-de-France region. In local slang, it is known as "quatre-vingt quinze" or "neuf cinq"...
département, although in reality the préfecture building and administration, as well as the department council (conseil général), are located inside the neighboring commune of Cergy
Cergy
Cergy is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise, created in the 1960s, of which it is the central and most populated commune....
, which is regarded as the de facto capital of Val-d'Oise.
Pontoise is also the seat of the Arrondissement of Pontoise
Arrondissement of Pontoise
The arrondissement of Pontoise is an arrondissement of France, located in the Val-d'Oise département, in the Île-de-France région. It has 17 cantons and 117 communes.-Cantons:The cantons of the arrondissement of Pontoise are:# Beauchamp...
. The sous-préfecture
Sous-préfecture
Subprefectures are the administrative towns of arrondissements in France that do not contain the prefecture for its department. Subprefecture is also the name given to the building which houses the administrative headquarters for the arrondissement....
building and administration, unlike the préfecture, are located inside the commune of Pontoise.
History
Pontoise is the historical capital of the VexinVexin
The Vexin is a historical county of northwestern France. It covers a verdant plateau on the right bank of the Seine comprising an area east-to-west between Pontoise and Romilly-sur-Andelle , and north-to-south between Auneuil and the Seine near Vernon...
français. Its foundation dates from the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
times (Pontisara). At that time, the rock piton overhanging the river Oise
Oise River
The River Oise is a right tributary of the River Seine, flowing for 302 km in Belgium and France. Its source is in the Belgian province Hainaut, south of the town Chimay. It crosses the border with France after about 20 km. It flows into the Seine in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, near Paris...
supported the defense of the ford which was on the Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
, the Chaussée Jules César
Chaussée Jules César
Chaussée Jules César was a roman road linking Lutetia and Rotamagus . The road's construction was initiated by the Roman governor Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa...
, between Lutetia
Lutetia
Lutetia was a town in pre-Roman and Roman Gaul. The Gallo-Roman city was a forerunner of the re-established Merovingian town that is the ancestor of present-day Paris...
(Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
) and Rotomagus (Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
). The road still exists and is now part of the N14 from Paris to Rouen.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 1999, the population was .
The estimate for 2005 was .
Immigration
Transport
Pontoise is served by PontoiseGare de Pontoise
Pontoise is the train station serving the city of Pontoise and the surrounding suburbs. The station is a large building situated on Place Charles de Gaulle itself at the bottom end of Rue Thiers...
station, a terminus on Paris RER line C
RER C
The RER C is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France. It is operated by SNCF.The line runs from the northwestern terminuses Pontoise , Versailles – Rive Gauche and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines to the southeastern terminuses Massy-Palaiseau , Dourdan-la-Forêt , ...
and an intermediate terminus for suburban trains originating from Gare Saint-Lazare
Gare Saint-Lazare
Paris Saint-Lazare is one of the six large terminus train stations of Paris. It is the second busiest in Paris, behind the Gare du Nord, handling 274,000 passengers each day.-History:...
as well as a terminus for suburban trains from Gare du Nord
Gare du Nord
Paris Nord is one of the six large terminus railway stations of the SNCF mainline network for Paris, France. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines, including Paris Métro and RER...
. Some trains originating at Gare Saint-Lazare
Gare Saint-Lazare
Paris Saint-Lazare is one of the six large terminus train stations of Paris. It is the second busiest in Paris, behind the Gare du Nord, handling 274,000 passengers each day.-History:...
continue onto Gisors
Gisors
Gisors is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located northwest from the center of Paris.Gisors, together with the neighbouring communes of Trie-Château and Trie-la-Ville, form an urban area of 12,669 inhabitants...
. Bus services operate in and around Pontoise with transport interchanges situated Place Charles de Gaulle and Parking Canrobert.
Pontoise – Cormeilles Aerodrome is the area airport.
Culture
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
movement. Many painters took as a starting point the city and its area for the creation of landscapes. Camille Pissarro
Camille Pissarro
Camille Pissarro was a French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas . His importance resides in his contributions to both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, as he was the only artist to exhibit in both forms...
lived there for seventeen years. Other artists lived or worked in the area such as Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
(Auvers-sur-Oise
Auvers-sur-Oise
Auvers-sur-Oise is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is associated with several famous artists, the most prominent being Vincent van Gogh.-History:...
), Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
, Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...
, Charles-François Daubigny
Charles-François Daubigny
Charles-François Daubigny was one of the painters of the Barbizon school, and is considered an important precursor of Impressionism....
, Gustave Caillebotte
Gustave Caillebotte
Gustave Caillebotte was a French painter, member and patron of the group of artists known as Impressionists, though he painted in a much more realistic manner than many other artists in the group...
, etc.
It was here that one of the most successful alchemysts was born, Nicolas Flamel.
Main sights
- Cathédrale Saint-Maclou de PontoiseCathédrale Saint-Maclou de PontoisePontoise Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral, and national monument of France, located in the town of Pontoise, now on the outskirts of Paris, in the Val d'Oise....
. It was built in the 12th century and reconstructed and enlarged in the 15th and 16th centuries. The tower as well as the central portal is in flamboyantFlamboyantFlamboyant is the name given to a florid style of late Gothic architecture in vogue in France from the 14th to the early 16th century, a version of which spread to Spain and Portugal during the 15th century; the equivalent stylistic period in English architecture is called the Decorated Style, and...
style .The central body is flanked by RenaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
additions. The remaining 12th century part of the cathedral is to the back. To the North of the building is a RenaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
portal. - Musée de Pontoise (Musée Tavet-Delacour). The museum houses sculptures from the Middle AgesMiddle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, manuscripts from the seventeenth century and paintings from the twentieth century - Musée Pissarro (impressionistImpressionismImpressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
collections) and garden of the five directions. The Museum is situated in a bourgeoiseBourgeoisieIn sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
house at the entrance of the old castle.
Crime
Cergy-Pontoise has 137.62 criminal incidents per 1000 inhabitants, far higher than national average (83 per 1000) and even higher than the crime rate of the Val-d'OiseVal-d'Oise
Val-d'Oise is a French department, created in 1968 after the split of the Seine-et-Oise department and located in the Île-de-France region. In local slang, it is known as "quatre-vingt quinze" or "neuf cinq"...
department (88.15 per 1000). Cergy-pontoise is one of the more dangerous city of the Val-d'Oise
Val-d'Oise
Val-d'Oise is a French department, created in 1968 after the split of the Seine-et-Oise department and located in the Île-de-France region. In local slang, it is known as "quatre-vingt quinze" or "neuf cinq"...
département after Sarcelles
Sarcelles
Sarcelles is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Sarcelles is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department and the seat of the Arrondissement of Sarcelles....
, Garges-les-Gonesse
Garges-lès-Gonesse
Garges-lès-Gonesse is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Transport:Garges-lès-Gonesse is served by Garges – Sarcelles station on Paris RER line D.-References:** -External links:* * *...
, Villiers-le-Bel
Villiers-le-Bel
Villiers-le-Bel is a commune in the French department of Val-d'Oise, in the northern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the center of Paris.-Transport:...
and Argenteuil
Argenteuil
Argenteuil is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Argenteuil is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department, the seat of the arrondissement of Argenteuil....
.