Massy, Essonne

This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (August 2021)

show This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (July 2014) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Massy (Essonne)]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|fr|Massy (Essonne)}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Massy
Commune
The town hall
Coat of arms
Location (in red) within Paris inner and outer suburbs
show Location of Massy Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Massy Location (in red) within Paris inner and outer suburbs Massy Massy (Île-de-France (region)) Show map of FranceShow map of Île-de-France (region)Show all
Coordinates: 48°43′51″N 2°16′17″E / 48.7309°N 2.2713°E / 48.7309; 2.2713Coordinates: 48°43′51″N 2°16′17″E / 48.7309°N 2.2713°E / 48.7309; 2.2713
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Essonne
Arrondissement	Palaiseau
Canton	Massy
Intercommunality	CA Paris-Saclay
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Nicolas Samsoen[1]
Area 1	9.43 km2 (3.64 sq mi)
Population  (Jan. 2018)[2]	50,632
• Density	5,400/km2 (14,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	91377 /91300
Elevation	55–110 m (180–361 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Massy is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 14.7 kilometres (9.1 mi) from the center of Paris.

Population[]

Massy underwent rapid development within a short period of time, transforming from a large borough of 6,000 inhabitants in 1950 to a town exceeding 37,000 inhabitants in 1968. Since then, its population of around 40,000 has remained relatively stable. Its population grew again after 2000 because of new constructions.

The inhabitants of Massy are known as Massicois.

Transport[]

Massy is served by two interchange stations on Paris RER line B and RER line C: Massy – Verrières and Massy – Palaiseau.

There is also a TGV station, called Massy TGV, which is adjacent to Massy – Palaiseau station and is one of only three specially-built TGV stations in the suburbs of Paris (the two others are at Disneyland Resort Paris and at Charles de Gaulle Airport).

History[]

The etymological origin of Massy is still very dubious. This name could result from the name of an owner of a villa of the Gallo-Roman time, original site of the village. Called Matius or Matheus, the name of his property then village would have been subjected to deformations due to language and the passing of time to become Massy. Located near the road between Paris and Chartres, the villa was undoubtedly built on a height (the Gaudon Mount) and formed the starting point of a human establishment. The argillaceous subsoil explains the formation of a clearing within the forest and the numerous stretches of water in the surrounding area.

During the Middle Ages and until the end of the Ancien Régime, the lordly estates divided up the territory of the current commune, assigning a majority part to the ecclesiastical institutions and in particular the abbey of St-Germain-des-Prés. In the 10th century, the line of the lords of Massy was established; their title of nobility was to become a barony (nowadays the ^{[clarification needed]}).

Before 1900, the history of the city was similar to that of the rural boroughs of Île-de-France. After the Revolution^[which?], the town remained rural. The population followed an evolution identical to that of the rest of the region. It underwent the same wars, epidemics and rebellions. The Massicois practiced mainly agricultural trades (gardeners, vine growers), even if local arts and crafts were always present. The tile factory, abandoned after the Second World War, was the town's oldest industry.

It is with the beginning of the 20th century that the face of Massy changes: from being a rural village, it transforms into a town increasing subjected to the attraction of Paris. Once with a population of just 1,400 people, nowadays, the town of Massy holds almost 40,000 inhabitants. At the end of the 19th century, the development of railways supported the construction of industries. The first allotments were born at the beginning of the century. The city's urbanisation developed towards the districts of the Gravels and Villaine, where it was necessary to establish a school as early as 1927. It is the era of the “suburban house”.

During the Second World War, the marshalling yard of Massy-Palaiseau was considered a strategic rail junction. The bombardments of these infrastructures caused 88 victims and material damage throughout the town. In the post-war period, the reconstruction and development of the parisian agglomeration^{[clarification needed]} and its suburbs metamorphosed the town's geography. The housing crisis provoked an outrage, thus the "castor" movement established some residences in the east of the city. The establishment of a housing scheme on 145 hectares of the communes of Massy-Antony caused the population of Massy to double. The creation of a 'Priority Construction Zone' in Villaine 10 years later was intended to even out the town's urbanisation. This abrupt development of the town also modified its social structure: rejuvenation of the population, arrival of foreigners, etc. During the 1960s and 1970s, questions are raised about rapid urban development: housing problems and shantytowns, lack of public resources, requalification of certain factory sites, delinquency, etc. To satisfy the needs for this new population, many new infrastructures were created such as schools, hospitals, sports centres, swimming pools, arts centres, nurseries and parks. The establishment of a TGV station in 1991 is an asset for the economic development of the city. Nowadays, certain amenities have an influence which exceeds the communal and departmental circles, in particular opera and theatre. (Author: Municipal archives of Massy).

Administration[]

Massy is divided into two cantons:

The contains 18,316 inhabitants; The contains 19,396 inhabitants.

Sports[]

Massy has a professional sports team in Rugby (Rugby Club Massy Essonne, playing Federal 1, third level of Rugby in France) and Handball (, playing in ProLigue, second level of Handball in France). Massy has one association football team in . Massy also has major sports associations in climbing and swimming.

Personalities[]

• Nicolas Appert, inventor of the process of canning, in 1802 created a workshop in Massy employing fifty people in order to produce the preserves which have made it famous. The factory was destroyed in 1815, following the Prussian invasion. Nicolas Appert returned to Massy in 1836 and died there on 1 June 1841.^[5]

Nicolas Appert

• Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges, a famous historian, lived in Massy from 1883 until 1889, date of his death.
• Jacques-René Tenon was a surgeon in Salpêtrière. He owes his fame to the combat which he led for the development of hygiene in hospitals. He thus imposed the installation of individual beds and the isolation of patients with contagious diseases. Today his estate accommodates the .
• Princess Antoinette of Monaco was officially designated Baroness of Massy by her younger brother, Rainier III, in 1951. The style Baron/Baroness de Massy has since become that of the members of her cadet branch of the princely family.
• Alain Chabat, actor, film director and producer
• Yorane Julians, basketball player
• Johan Martial, footballer for Panetolikos
• Dorian Martial ex-captain of CO Les Ulis
• Anthony Martial, footballer for Manchester United
• Yaya Sanogo, footballer
• Yvonnick Prené, jazz musician

Places and monuments[]

•  : Built in 1823 in a 55-hectare park. In the park, a pond in the form of Napoleon's Bicornate was dug by the emperor's young brother, Jerôme Bonaparte.
• Massy has an which plays an important part in the Essonian cultural life.
• Massy also has an arts cinema consisting of three rooms projecting films with their original soundtrack. Prices: €6.80 per showing or €4.60 with a season ticket costing €5 a year.

Massy Opéra

Economy[]

On 1 July 2010 Alstom inaugurated the new head office of its Energy Management Business (EMB) division in Massy. At the time the office had 600 employees.^[6]

Education[]

The commune has an integrated school, 16 preschools, and 12 elementary schools.^[7] There are three public junior high schools operated by Essonne: Collège Blaise Pascal, Collège Denis Diderot, and Collège Gérard Philipe.^[8] There are three senior high schools operated by Ile de France: , , and .^[9]

Tertiary education:^[10]

• AgroParisTech
• Faculté des Métiers de l’Essonne
• CFA des Métiers de l'Aérien

See also[]

• Communes of the Essonne department

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Massy (Essonne).

• Massy town council website (in French)
• Tourism office website (in French)
• Base Mérimée: Search for heritage in the commune, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
• Mayors of Essonne Association (in French)