Mantes was halfway between the centres of power of the dukes of Normandy at Rouen and the Kings of France at Paris. Along with most of northern France, it changed hands frequently in the Hundred Years' War. Philip Augustus died at Mantes, 14 July 1223.
Louis XIV instituted the manufacture of musical instruments in Mantes, and it was chosen as the centre of brass and woodwind instrument manufacture. In the 19th century, painters were attracted to the town, particularly Corot, whose paintings of the bridge and the cathedral are celebrated. Prokofiev spent the summer of 1920 there orchestrating the ballet Chout.
Originally officially called Mantes-sur-Seine (meaning "Mantes upon Seine"), Mantes merged with the commune of Gassicourt in 1930 and the commune born of the merger was called Mantes-Gassicourt.
On 7 May 1953, the commune of Mantes-Gassicourt was officially renamed Mantes-la-Jolie (meaning "Mantes the pretty"), allegedly in reference to a letter of King Henry IV addressed to his mistressGabrielle d'Estrées who resided in Mantes: "I am on my way to Mantes, my pretty" (French: je viens à Mantes, ma jolie).
Inhabitants are called Mantais in French. The city had a total of 44,299 inhabitants in 2017. The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Mantes-la-Jolie proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Mantes-la-Jolie absorbed the former communes of Gassicourt in 1930.[3]
Mantes-la-Jolie has a significant Muslim population, consisting mainly of North Africans, Arabs, Turks, and Sub-Saharan Africans. Many Muslims in Mantes-la-Jolie experience disillusionment, high levels of poverty and unemployment. Val Fourré is a low-income housing estate occupied almost entirely by Arabs and African migrants.[4] Over one-in-three residents in the town is an immigrant, and 27% of the town does not have French citizenship as of 2019.[5]
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1793
4,803
—
1800
3,800
−3.29%
1806
3,976
+0.76%
1821
3,811
−0.28%
1831
4,148
+0.85%
1836
3,818
−1.64%
1841
4,280
+2.31%
1846
4,400
+0.55%
1851
4,374
−0.12%
1856
5,046
+2.90%
1861
5,372
+1.26%
1866
5,345
−0.10%
1872
5,697
+1.07%
1876
5,649
−0.21%
1881
6,056
+1.40%
1886
6,607
+1.76%
1891
7,032
+1.25%
1896
8,015
+2.65%
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1901
8,034
+0.05%
1906
8,329
+0.72%
1911
8,821
+1.15%
1921
9,329
+0.56%
1926
9,944
+1.29%
1931
13,865
+6.87%
1936
13,978
+0.16%
1946
13,181
−0.59%
1954
15,155
+1.76%
1962
18,905
+2.80%
1968
26,062
+5.50%
1975
42,465
+7.22%
1982
43,564
+0.37%
1990
45,087
+0.43%
1999
43,672
−0.35%
2007
42,916
−0.22%
2012
43,515
+0.28%
2017
44,299
+0.36%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
The city is divided into four districts each with a characteristic urban form:
Centre-ville: city center, a dense and commercial area
Gassicourt: residential area
Val Fourré: large housing district
Hautes Garennes: a non-urbanized area
Sights
Notre Dame de Mantes
The main monument in Mantes is the church of Notre-Dame dating back to 12th century. A previous church was burnt down by William the Conqueror together with the rest of the town, at the capture of which he lost his life in 1087. Modern bridges link Mantes with the town of Limay on the other side of the river.
Economy
Mantes is home to small businesses working on concrete and chemical processing, but is inevitably drawn into the economic area of nearby Paris.
It is historically and at present a center of musical instrument manufacturing. The well known Buffet Crampon woodwind factory is located in the neighbourhood city of Mantes-la-Ville.
The municipality has nineteen public preschools,[7] sixteen public elementary schools,[8] six public junior high schools, two public senior high schools/sixth form colleges, and a private secondary school.[9]
.svg)
,_coll%C3%A9giale_Notre-Dame,_vue_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale_depuis_le_nord_6.jpg)
