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Taverny (Municipality, Val-d'Oise, France)

Former flag of Taverny - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 19 March 2004

Presentation of Taverny
Former flag of Taverny

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Presentation of Taverny

The municipality of Taverny (1,048 ha; 26,092 inhabitants [1999 census], Tabernaciens) is located 20 km north-west of Paris.

The Gallo-Roman city of Taverny was located 10 lieues, that is 22 km, from Lutetia (Paris), and was built on the site of on oppidum (fortified camp) dated from the Age of Bronze and nicknamed Camp de C´sar. The name of the city was probably derived from the Latin word taberna, a public place where you paid for food and drink.
The first mention of the villa (estate) of Taverny dates back to 754. King of the Franks Pépin le Bref (751-768) confirmed the rights of the villa in a document part of the cartulaire (a compendium of official acts) of Saint-Denis.
A later act, dated 1122, states that lord Bouchard de Montmorency-Banthelu ceded his rights on the church Notre-Dame-de-Moncelles in Taverny to the Saint Martin abbey in Pontoise. In the12th-13th centuries, the village of Taverny was grouped around its church and churchyard. The evolution of the land of Taverny was complex, and it might have emerged from a larger domain including the modern municipalities of Beauchmap, Bessancourt, Le Plessis-Bouchard, Saint-Leu-la-Forêt and Taverny.

Constable Mathieu II de Montmorency built the Gothic Notre-Dame church in 1237, where he would be buried in 1260. It is said that the cornerstone of the church was put down by Blanche de Castille (1188-1252), St. Louis' mother. The church was restored in the 15th century and "improved" in the 19th century by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879). The masterpieces of the church of Taverny are a stone altarpiece from the Renaissance, offered by constable Anne de Montmorency (1493-1567), the stone statue of Notre-Dame-des-Fers (late 15th century) and the wooden statue of Notre-Dame-de-Taverny (14th century).
The Ecce Homo chapel was built in the 17th century by Marie de Lumague, wife of François de Pollalion, a member of the court of Louis XIII (1610-1643). Shown on the map drawn in 1719 by Blondel, the chapel is said to have been built for the redemption of prostitutes.

Taverny was until 2011 the site of Air Force base 921.
Gypsum quarries were dig in Taverny and Bessancourt in 1815. From 1941 to 1944, they were used by the Germans to store ammunition and to assemble V1 and V2 rockets. In 1957, the CODA (Centre d'Opérations de la Défense Aérienne) was set up by the French Air Force in Taverny. The general staff of the CAFDA (Commandement Air des Forces de Défense Aérienne) joined in 1961. Two years later, the CFAS (Commandement des Forces Aériennes Stratégiques) and its operation center (COFAS) were also relocated in Taverny.
The base had an area of 43.6 ha, the decision center being located underground on an area of 15 ha, included in the ancient gypsum quarry. The transmission center, one of the most advanced in the world, was linked to the outside world by 15 kms of galleries and hired 1,400 specialists. The underground base had a complete autonomy of 10 days. Information gathered by 10 radar stations was collected and analyzed in Taverny. The control system was linked to equivalent systems in the neighbouring countries and covered an area of 5,000,000 sq. km, that is 9 times the area of France.
In peace time, the missions of Air Defense are flight assistance to civil and army aircrafts and search and rescue of lost or crashed aircrafts. In war time, the headquarters of the Air Defense in Taverny were tasked to detect any airborne threat, alert and organize the air defense. The base of Taverny hosted the headquarters of the Nuclear Air Defense.

Ivan Sache, 19 March 2021

Former flag of Taverny

Former flag of Taverny - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 19 March 2004

The former flag of Taverny was white with the former municipal logo.
Wishing to set up a dynamic communication, Mayor and General Councillor Maurice Boscavert (1989-2014) ordered a new municipal logotype as soon as elected, in 1989.
To give a new image to Taverny is a way to show its today's reality. The tree reflects the natural and green environment of the town, its link to nature, and the dynamism of its ways of communication. The foliage is the place where culture and tradition interlace, thus allowing solidarity and wellfare.
[Municipal website]

Arnaud Leroy, 19 March 2004