 The
town owes its name to a bishop of Rouen Audoenus
Dado, also a dignitary in the court of king
Dagobert, who lived in the 7th century. Bishop OUEN
was sanctified after his death and the chapel built
in his honour was the origin of the village of Saint-Ouen.
Beginning at the end of the 13th century, this area
of rolling countryside offering a superb view over
the Seine and Paris became a popular
country retreat for the royal family. In
1285, Charles de Valois, brother to Philippe le
Bel, made Saint-Ouen his favourite residence. In
1351, le roi king
Jean II le Bon founded here the first French order
of chivalry, the Order of the Star. Isabeau
de Bavière was particularly fond of the village
where she owned a manor house, as did many lords,
in the 14th century.
The lord of the village in the 17th century was
Seiglières de Boisfranc who commissioned
the architect to Louis XIV, Antoine Le Pautre, to
build a château in the classical style. The
different owners of this palace in the 18th century
were the Duc de Gesvre, the Marquise de Pompadour
and the Duc de Nivernais, who received Marie-Antoinette
as a guest. Necker, the banker and director of finance
of Louis XVI, also bought a residence in Saint-Ouen.
The 700 inhabitants of Saint-Ouen lived mainly by
cultivating wheat, grapes and asparagus.
In 1814, after the abdication of Napoleon I, Louis
XVIII signed in the old château the ‘Declaration
of Saint-Ouen’, which founded the Restoration.
The king bought up the property and had it demolished,
and then commissioned. |
|
the architect Jean-Jacques Marie Huvé
to build a château for his favourite, the
Comtesse du Cayla.
Saint-Ouen was already at this period a popular
resort for Parisians who came to enjoy
the country air, the swimming and canoeing amenities,
and the area's fresh produce.
In 1830,
a canal-port and docks were built, on the model
of the Saint Catherine docks in London. This was
the starting point of the region's precocious
and rapid industrialization marked by a
great diversity of industries: chemicals, metallurgy,
etc. Famous industrialists had their factories
in Saint-Ouen, such as Godillot, whose name passed
into the language as a familiar term for 'shoe'.
As the industrial centre grew, a working-class
population settled in Saint-Ouen, joining the
rag dealers who had come to live around the Porte
de Clignancourt.
 After
World War I, numerous companies moved into the
area, including Citroën, Wonder, Martini,
and Thomson-Houston. The town, which now has 40,000
inhabitants, has developed considerably in recent
years. Quality sports, cultural and social amenities
have been built.
The industrial town
has become a service hubfs, with Sony,
L’Oréal, S.V.P, the headquarters of
Citroën, Baccardi-Martini, the press group
Aujourd’hui-Le Parisien, as well as Gaz de
France, Cetelem and, more recently, Nokia and
Danone. |
Discover
Saint-Ouen:
33
(0)1 40 11 77 36 /
33
(0)1 40 11 01 70 /
infos@st-ouen-tourisme.com