page_title: Antony, Hauts-de-Seine
section_title: The opening up (16th to 18th centuries)
hierarchical_section_title: Antony, Hauts-de-Seine / History / The opening up (16th to 18th centuries)
caption_attribution_description: pigeonnier
context_page_description: Antony is a French commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 11.3 km from the centre of Paris. Antony is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and the seat of the arrondissement of Antony.
  Watered by the Bièvre, a tributary of the Seine, Antony is located at the crossroads of very important transport routes, especially the main north–south axis which has existed for 2,000 years. Little urbanized until the early 20th century, the city grew considerably between the two wars, under Senator-Mayor Auguste Mounié, from 4,000 to 20,000 inhabitants. In the early 1960s the population quickly increased from 25,000 to 50,000 to accommodate the repatriated people from Algeria. Now incorporated in the Paris Metropolitan Area, it is particularly strong in education with one of the largest private institutions in France and in the health field with the largest private establishment in Île-de-France.
  The inhabitants of the commune are known as Antoniens or Antoniennes.
  The commune has been awarded two flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.
context_section_description: The road from Paris to Orléans was paved under François I: it crossed the Bièvre at the Pont d'Antony from which a path led to the centre of the village near the church of Saint-Saturnin. The development of this road led to the development of the city.
  In 1545 François I, while at prayers with Cardinal de Tournon, Commendatory abbot of Saint Germain, gave letters patent for the establishment of fairs at Antony on Thursday after Pentecost and on Saint Catherine's day (25 November) as well as a market every Thursday.
  The famous top-quality candle maker Trudon was established here in 1737 after buying the business established in 1702 from Pean de Saint Gilles, wax supplier to the King.
  At the end of the 17th century and early in the 18th century, Antony became a holiday town close to Paris: La Fontaine and Charles Perrault took their summer quarters there. This is also the period during which many mansions were built by notable Parisian who came to Antony for the countryside just outside Paris. Most mansions still remained in the middle of the 20th century: the old castle, the property of the actor François Molé, the folly of the Castries family in Heller Park now demolished but an outbuilding remains, the house of the Belle Levantine (now the Maison Saint-Jean), the property of the Ladies of Saint Raphael, and the property of Ballainvilliers purchased in 1860 by the surgeon Alfred Velpeau.
caption: The dovecote from Antony Castle (1648)
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