Meudon

▪ France

      town, Hauts-de-Seine département, Île-de-France région, France, southwestern suburb of Paris, standing on a hill on the south bank of the Seine River. Meudon is bordered to the south by woods and by the terrace of Meudon and has a fine panoramic view of Paris. The Observatoire de Meudon on the terrace is housed in the transformed early 18th-century royal Château-Neuf, severely damaged by fire in 1870.

      During the 19th or early 20th century, the sculptor Auguste Rodin, the painters Édouard Manet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and the composer Richard Wagner all lived in Meudon. Rodin's estate is a museum housing his tomb and many of his works. There is an aeronautical museum outside the town. Industry, centred in the Bas Meudon quarter, has declined, being replaced by largely residential and office developments. Pop. (1999) 43,663; (2005 est.) 44,200.

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