Saint-Cloud

This article is about the commune in France. For similarly named places, see St. Cloud (disambiguation).

Saint-Cloud (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ klu]) is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, 9.6 kilometres (6.0 miles) from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest towns, with the second-highest average household income of communities with 10,000 to 50,000 households.^[3]

Saint-Cloud
Commune
Saint-Cloud Town Hall
Coat of arms
Location (in red) within Paris inner suburbs
Location of Saint-Cloud
Saint-Cloud Show map of France Saint-Cloud Show map of Île-de-France (region)
Coordinates: 48°50′N 2°13′E
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Hauts-de-Seine
Arrondissement	Nanterre
Canton	Saint-Cloud
Intercommunality	Grand Paris
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Éric Berdoati[1] (DVD)
Area 1	7.56 km2 (2.92 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]	29,727
• Density	3,900/km2 (10,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	92064 /92210
Elevation	136 m (446 ft)
Website	saintcloud.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Saint-Cloud is home to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (IBWM), located in the Parc de Saint-Cloud's Pavillon de Breteuil.

History

Napoleon Bonaparte in the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire in Saint-Cloud, François Bouchot, 1840.

The town is named after Clodoald, grandson of Clovis, who is supposed to have sought refuge in a hamlet on the Seine near Paris, then named Novigentum,^{[citation needed]} like many other newly founded mercantile settlements outside the traditional towns. After he was canonized, the village where his tomb was located took the name of Sanctus Clodoaldus.

A park contains the ruins of the Château de Saint-Cloud, built in 1572 and destroyed by fire in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. The château was the residence of several French rulers and served as the main country residence of the cadet Orléans line until the French Revolution. The palace was also the site of the coup d'état led by Napoleon Bonaparte that overthrew the French Directory in 1799.

The town is also famous for the Saint-Cloud porcelain produced there from 1693 to 1766.^[4]

The Headquarters of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) was at 22 Rue Armengaud from 1966 until 1989, when it moved to Lyon.

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 2,042 —     1800 1,660 −2.92% 1806 2,360 +6.04% 1821 1,953 −1.25% 1831 1,935 −0.09% 1836 2,316 +3.66% 1841 3,417 +8.09% 1846 3,457 +0.23% 1851 3,828 +2.06% 1856 4,405 +2.85% 1861 5,611 +4.96% 1866 5,248 −1.33% 1872 8,956 +9.32% 1876 4,862 −14.16% 1881 4,126 −3.23% 1886 5,380 +5.45% 1891 5,660 +1.02% 1896 6,374 +2.40%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 7,195 +2.45% 1906 8,354 +3.03% 1911 9,725 +3.09% 1921 11,921 +2.06% 1926 13,519 +2.55% 1931 16,341 +3.86% 1936 16,597 +0.31% 1946 17,614 +0.60% 1954 20,671 +2.02% 1962 26,472 +3.14% 1968 28,158 +1.03% 1975 28,139 −0.01% 1982 28,561 +0.21% 1990 28,597 +0.02% 1999 28,157 −0.17% 2009 29,726 +0.54% 2014 29,360 −0.25% 2020 29,560 +0.11%
Source: EHESS[5] and INSEE (1968–2020)[6]

Main sights

Santos Dumont posing near the statue in his honour in 1913.

Main article: Château de Saint-Cloud

The main landmarks are the park of the demolished Château de Saint-Cloud and the Pavillon de Breteuil. The Saint-Cloud Racecourse, a racetrack for Thoroughbred flat racing, was built by Edmond Blanc in 1901 and hosts a number of important races, including the annual Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

Tribute to Santos-Dumont

On the Avenue de Longchamp is a bronze statue commissioned by the Airclub of France representing the Greek mythological figure Icarus, in honour of Alberto Santos-Dumont. Inaugurated on October 19, 1913, it sits on a square near the old Aerostation of Saint-Cloud, where Santos-Dumont performed his experiments with heavier-than-air aircraft. Santos-Dumont was also responsible for the construction of the world's first hangar. A replica has occupied the hangar's site in Saint-Cloud since 1952 after the original was destroyed for its bronze during the Nazi military occupation.

Transport

Saint-Cloud is served by two stations on the Transilien La Défense and Paris-Saint-Lazare suburban rail lines: Le Val d'Or and Saint-Cloud.

The town is also served by tramway Line T2, which runs alongside the Seine.

Central Saint-Cloud, known as le village ("the village"), is also served by the Métro station Boulogne–Pont de Saint-Cloud (Line 10), just across the Seine on the Boulogne-Billancourt side of the Pont de Saint-Cloud.

Saint-Cloud will at the horizon of end 2031equally be connected to the Line 15 of the Paris metro, that is currently under construction.

Hospital

• René Huguenin Hospital

Education

Internationale Deutsche Schule Paris

Public high schools:

• Lycée Alexandre-Dumas
• Lycée Santos-Dumont

It is also served by the public high school Lycée Jean Pierre Vernant in Sèvres.^[7]

Private high schools:

• Institution Saint-Pie-X

International schools:

• American School of Paris
• Internationale Deutsche Schule Paris (German school)^[8]

A campus of the Paris Nanterre University is also located in the city.

Paris Nanterre University Saint-Cloud campus

Personalities

Notable births

• Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (1674–1723), Regent of France from 1715 to 1723
• Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans (1676–1744), Regent of Lorraine, lived at the Palace at Saint-Cloud
• Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (1747–1793), a key figure during the early stages of the French Revolution;
• Princess Marie Bonaparte (1882–1962), psychoanalyst, closely linked with Sigmund Freud
• Gilbert Norman (1914–1944), Special Operations Executive member
• Annick Gendron, painter
• Nicole Courcel (1930–2016), film actress
• Jean-Claude Killy (born 1943), alpine skier and a triple Olympic champion
• Gérard Manset (born 1945), known as Manset, rock songwriter
• Hervé Guibert (1955–1991), writer
• Mino Cinelu (born 1957), musician
• Alexandra Fusai (born 1973), former professional tennis player
• Marie Silin (born 1979), member of parliament
• Magalie Poisson (born 1982), Olympic rhythmic gymnast
• Paul Lasne (born 1989), footballer
• Ingmar Lazar (born 1993), classical pianist, prodigy

Notable residents

• Henri III of France (1551–1589), King of France, assassinated in Saint-Cloud
• Philippe d'Orléans (1640–1701) lived in the Château de Saint-Cloud from 1658 to his death in 1701
• Henrietta of England (1644–1670) lived and died in the Château de Saint-Cloud
• Napoléon I (1769–1821) lived in the Château de Saint-Cloud
• Antoine Sénard (1800–1885), member of the National Assembly, mayor of Saint-Cloud from 1871 to 1874
• Émile Verhaeren (1855–1916), Flemish poet
• André Chevrillon (1864–1957), French author
• Florent Schmitt (1870–1958), French composer
• Maurice Ravel (1875–1937), French composer
• Marcel Dassault (1892–1986), French businessman and politician
• Alberto Santos-Dumont (1873–1932), Brazilian inventor and aviation pioneer
• Lino Ventura (1919–1987), Italian actor, lived and died in Saint-Cloud
• Jean-Pierre Fourcade (born 1929), French Minister, mayor of Saint-Cloud from 1971 to 1992
• Christophe Dominici (1972–2020), rugby union player for France and Stade Français
• Gérard Holtz (born 1946), French sports journalist
• Jean-Marie Le Pen, French politician, owner of Domaine de Montretout in Saint-Cloud^[9]

Notable burials

• Alimardan Topchubashov (1863–1934)
• Edmond Blanc (1856–1920)
• René Alexandre (1885–1946)
• Maurice Bessy (1910–1993), author of A Pictorial History of Magic and The Supernatural (1963)^[10]
• Gérard Blain (1930–2000)
• Gilbert Grandval (1904–1981)
• Fernand Gravey (1905–1970)
• Jean-René Huguenin (1936–1962)
• Dorothy Jordan (1761–1816)
• Vlado Perlemuter (1904–2002)
• Andrée Servilange (1911–2001)
• Jean Toulout (1887–1962)
• Maurice Yvain (1891–1965)

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Saint-Cloud is twinned with:^[11]

• Bad Godesberg (Bonn), Germany
• Boadilla del Monte, Spain
• Frascati, Italy
• Kortrijk, Belgium
• St. Cloud, Florida, United States
• St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States
• Windsor and Maidenhead, England, United Kingdom

In popular culture

Saint-Cloud is the main setting of the 1955 French film Les Diaboliques (a.k.a. Diabolique).^[12]

See also

• Communes of the Hauts-de-Seine department

References

1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 6 June 2023.
2. "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
3. "Les 10 communes les plus riches de France". 23 January 2015.
4. J. Paul Getty Museum. "Saint-Cloud Porcelain Manufactory". Retrieved 2008-01-13.
5. Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Saint-Cloud, EHESS (in French).
6. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
7. Home page. Lycée Jean Pierre Vernant. Retrieved on September 7, 2016. [...]qui relèvent de la zone de desserte du lycée ( communes de Sèvres, Ville d’Avray, Chaville, Saint -Cloud) [...]
8. "Get in contact Archived 2015-01-23 at the Wayback Machine." Internationale Deutsche Schule Paris. Retrieved on 23 January 2015. "Postanschrift: 18 rue Pasteur F – 92210 SAINT CLOUD Besucheradresse: 12 rue Lelégard F – 92210 SAINT-CLOUD"
9. "Marine Le Pen, une riche propriétaire (comme son père)". Le Nouvel Observateur. January 27, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
10. "Maurice Bessy a Pictorial History of Magic and the Supernatural 1963 PDF".
11. "Les villes jumelles, soeurs et filleule". saintcloud.fr (in French). Saint-Cloud. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
12. Wood, Michael (2011-03-03). "At the Movies". London Review of Books. Vol. 33, no. 5. p. 23. Retrieved 2018-06-06.

External links

• "St Cloud, a town of northern France" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.