Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche

Sister cities

• Rösrath

History

Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche was built around 4 core hamlets near the Forest of Marly. The village takes its name from a 9th-century co-bishop, saint Nonne, who re-evangelized the country after the Norman invasions, and from La Bretesche, a wooden stronghold (from breit eiche: big oak tree) consisting of a hamlet at the edge of the forest of Cruye, now the forest of Marly. The hamlet was originally called "Saint-Nonne au Val de Galie", the name of the parish, then "Saint-Nom près de la Bretesche" and since the Revolution, "Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche". During the French Revolution the district was called "La Montagne Fromentale" and then "l'Union la Bretesche". The hamlets of Avinières, Val-Martin, La Tuilerie-Bignon were the responsibility of numerous lords, as well as of the Dames de Poissy and the Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey. The north of the village, La Bretèche, was part of Marly Park, while the south, Saint-Nom, was part of , making it difficult for the village as a whole to acquire an identity well into the 20th century. Steady demographic growth, which accelerated significantly after 1982, eventually unified the two villages and allowed the building of a "Centre Village" and a Library by 2000. Some historic structures in the village suffered irreparable damage from a freak storm with tornado strength winds that struck France in December 1999. The storm, which also damaged nearby Versailles, uprooted centuries-old trees and part of the wall of the Château de la Bretèche along the Route de Sainte Gemme.