Located in the heart of the valley Juine, Méréville appears as an oasis of greenery in the Beauce plain.
His hall of the Middle Ages (ca. 1511), its castle and its grounds (once one of the most beautiful in Europe), the tower of Trajan and the wash of the 18th century make Méréville one of the most picturesque sites of the region.
Famous figures marked Méréville their mark: Jean-Louis Bory, writer, Jacques Bodoin, songwriter, Philippe Cara Costea, painter, Blaise Cendrars, writer, Eugene Guillevic, poet, François-René de Chateaubriand.
Historic Village:
Put the edge of the plateau Beauceron, a large area of nearly 3000 hectares, combines Méréville plains between high culture and the lush valley. She suffered a turbulent history since the Roman occupation in the 4th century.
Its castle destroyed, rebuilt, razed, rebuilt, was also the eighteenth century a stay during which peace, Arts and Letters have flourished. This domain bought on the eve of the Revolution by the wealthy financier Jean-Joseph de Laborde was beautifully transformed. The expanded park became a romantic garden style, designed by the architect François-Joseph Bélanger and directed by the painter Hubert Robert. Planted with a variety of botanical species, reported its shipments by La Perouse, he was regarded by his contemporaries as the finest and most accomplished romantic gardens with its many factories and artificial caves. Historical monument, the entire estate was bought by the General Council of Essonne in 2000 for rehabilitation. This major project will take place over a dozen years. This rehabilitation will rank the romantic Méréville Gardens as a tourist destination of national and international first class.
Méréville, capital of watercress:
No one can leave Méréville without following the course of June and having walked in those scenic wetland where watercress is grown in over a century. The watercress is indeed a remarkable feature of the landscape, labeled "reconquest landscape" since 1992 by the Ministry of Environment. The department of Essonne is the largest producer of watercress in France with 40%.
