1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Rueil

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search

RUEIL, a town of N. France, in the department of Seine-et-Oise, at the W. foot of Mt Valérien, 6 m. W. of Paris by tramway. Pop. (1906) 10,439. Rueil has a church rebuilt under Napoleon III. in exact imitation of a previous church in the Renaissance style, and containing the tombs of the Empress Josephine and her daughter Hortense de Beauharnais. In the 17th century Richelieu built a chateau which no longer exists. Rueil has important photographic works and manufactures of lime and cement, &c. Close to the town is the château of Malmaison, a building of the 18th century famous as the residence of the empress Josephine. It was afterwards occupied by Maria Christina, queen of Spain, and by the empress Eugénie. In 1900 the owner, Daniel Osiris, presented it and the park to the nation; the apartments have been as far as possible restored to the condition in which they were when inhabited by Josephine and Napoleon.