Rueil-Malmaison

▪ France

      town, western residential and industrial suburb of Paris, Hauts-de-Seine département, Île-de-France région, north-central France. Originally called Rotoialum, or Roialum, it was a resort of the Merovingian kings, a Frankish dynasty (6th–8th century). In 1346 Rueil was burned by the Black Prince, son of Edward III of England. In 1622 Christophe Perrot, a counsellor of the Parlement de Paris, built himself a château at the site called Malmaison (House of Misfortune). It was purchased in 1799 and enlarged by Joséphine Bonaparte, first wife of Napoleon, and later empress of the French; Napoleon stayed there between campaigns and spent a short while there after his defeat in 1815. It is now a museum. The empress Joséphine and her daughter, Queen Hortense, are buried in the 16th-century church of Rueil, restored by Napoleon III in the 19th century.

      Industries in the suburb include the manufacture of auto parts, photographic film, and pharmaceuticals. It is also a centre for engraving and distilling. In the early 21st century, several areas had undergone new residential and business development. Pop. (1999) 73,469; (2005 est.) 77,800.

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