Commune in the Yvelines department (78)
No previous stage.
Population: 21,500 (Mantevillois and Mantevilloises)
Specialities: Yvelines specialities, Yolin, Paris-Brest, Houdan hen; Rambolitain cake (from Rambouillet), Noyau de Poissy (liquor).
Famous people: Alain Barrière (singer), Jean-François Beltramini, Alian Polaniok, Ferland Mendy (footballers).
Sport: FC Mantois 78 (football).
Economy: First Promodes supermarket, Buffet-Crampon (clarinet makers), Selmer (saxophone makers).
Festivals: Contentpourien Festival (music and street arts). Tu contes pour moi (storytelling). Eole Factory.
Labels: Senior-Friendly Town / Animal-Friendly Town / Towns and Villages in Bloom 2 flowers
Websites and social media: www.manteslaville.fr / www.yvelines.fr
MANTES-LA-VILLE AND CYCLING
In 2022, Mantes-la-Ville hosted the start and finish of the first stage of Paris-Nice, which saw Christophe Laporte win and take the leader's jersey. This stage was memorable for the hat-trick achieved by the Jumbo Visma team, with the Frenchman winning ahead of his teammates Primoz Roglic and Wout Van Aert. The leader's jersey in this edition of the Race to the Sun never eluded the Dutch team, as Wout Van Aert took it after the 4th stage before handing it over to Roglic, the overall winner in Nice.
SIGHTS
Saint-Étienne Church
Construction: 10th to 20th century.
Style: Romanesque.
History: Saint-Étienne Church in Mantes-la-Ville was founded in 974. The church was damaged during Allied bombing in the Second World War, and restoration work began in 1968 and continued until 1981. There was a heavily damaged 16th-century porch, which was destroyed during the restoration work.
Characteristics: elongated church with a single nave and two bays. Chevet with cut corners. The western façade has a basket-handle opening, itself surmounted by a gable with an oculus. The walls have pointed arched windows and are supported by buttresses. A building has been added to the south wall. Bell tower at the level of the last bay of the nave.
Sulzer factory hall
The huge hall of the former Sulzer pump and motor factory, built in 1958 and closed after a fire in 2003, will house part of the Mantois university campus from 2027, bringing together the Mantes-en-Yvelines University Institute of Technology, the Yvelines Institute of Science and Technology, the Isty, and a training centre for apprentice engineers, the CFA Mécavenir. Work began in 2025.
Selmer Manufactory
Founded in 1885 in the Montmartre district of Paris by clarinettist Henri Selmer, the brand draws on the expertise of musicians to design, innovate and improve its range of instruments. For over a century, Selmer has been manufacturing the entire saxophone family (sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass) in France at its workshops in Mantes-la-Ville, in a wide range of finishes (lacquered, silver, black, brushed, solid silver, gold-plated and passivated). The company expanded to the United States in 1904 and established its manufacturing plant in Mantes-la-Ville in 1919. In 1929, Selmer acquired the company founded by Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. Since its creation, the brand has manufactured trumpets for Louis Armstrong and Maurice André, saxophones for Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon and John Coltrane, and even guitars for Django Reihnardt. In 2018, Thomas Pesquet took a Selmer saxophone into space! The Selmer range of instruments can be viewed in the brand's showroom on Rue Marcadet in Paris's 18th arrondissement.
Buffet-Crampon workshops
Like Selmer, Buffet-Crampon, one of its main competitors, is based in Mantes-la-Ville. The brand, founded in 1825 on the Passage du Grand-Cef in Paris and based in Mantes-la-Ville since 1850, is best known for its clarinets, but manufactures all kinds of wind instruments (saxophones, bassoons, oboes, English horns). Its repair workshop is still located in Mantes-la-Ville. The brand is still the world's leading manufacturer of clarinets.
TO EAT
Yolin
In 2024, to mark the Paris Olympic Games, Laurent Trochain, the department's Michelin-starred chef, came up with the idea of creating a dish typical of the Yvelines, Yolin. This popular dish consists of a base made from a simple mixture of eggs, flour, milk, salt and pepper, reminiscent of a quiche (without pastry). For the rest, everyone is free to adapt the recipe to their liking. The only requirement is to add three products from the Yvelines region, for a total immersion in the heart of the region, right down to the taste buds.
