Melun
Melun
(məlöN`), town (1990 pop. 36,489), capital of Seine-et-Marne dept., N central France, SE of Paris. It is an important industrial center where automobile bodies, airplane engines, leather products, pharmaceuticals, and elastics are produced. An ancient town of Île-de-FranceÎle-de-France, region and former province, N central France, in the center of the Paris basin, a fertile depression where the Marne and Ouse rivers join the Seine.
..... Click the link for more information. , Melun was founded on an island in the Seine and during Gallo-Roman times expanded to both banks of the river. It was ravaged often by the Normans. Melun became an early residence of the CapetianCapetians
, royal house of France that ruled continuously from 987 to 1328; it takes its name from Hugh Capet. Related branches of the family (see Valois; Bourbon) ruled France until the final deposition of the monarchy in the 19th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. kings. The town has a Romanesque church (12th cent.) and vestiges of a Roman fortress and a Capetian castle. Nearby is the famous Château of Vaux-le-Vicomte, built for Nicholas Fouquet.