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Le Raincy (Municipality, Seine-Saint-Denis, France)

Flag of Le Raincy - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 07 November 2025

Presentation of Le Raincy
Flag of Le Raincy

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Presentation of Le Raincy

Le Raincy (14,778 inhabitants, 224 ha) is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, and a subprefecture of the Seine-Saint-Denis department.

The hamlet's name likely derives from the Latin reincendere – "to burn again" – evoking the burning of trees at the edge of the forest. The priory known as Remse was founded by Beaudoin de Villefix, who, around 1130, erected a church there for monks of the order of Tiron Abbey, which was part of the diocese of Chartres.

In 1633, the Rincis estate was purchased by Jacques Bordier, a State Councillor and Superintendent of Finances under King Louis XIII. In 1640, on the site of the ruined Benedictine abbey, he built a magnificent château of royal grandeur, bearing the signatures of Le Vau for the architecture and Le Nôtre for the gardens; Le Brun oversaw the paintings and frescoes. The stables could accommodate over 200 horses, and the park covered more than 240 hectares, one of the largest in the region. The château rivaled the Palace of Versailles. Around 1652, Bordier received permission to enclose the park, which until then had been indistinguishable from the vast forest of Bondy. Bordier then annexed this land to that of Bondy, of which he was also the lord.

After the death of Jacques Bordier, the estate passed in 1663 under the suzerainty of the Princess Palatine. In 1684, the princess died, and the estate reverted to Louis II de Bourbon-Condé. He sold it in 1694 to the Marquis de Livry, Louis Sanguin, then First Master of the Household to the King and Captain of the Hunt. He combined the lands of Livry and Le Raincy, and the château became known as the Château de Livry.
In 1769, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans purchased the estate. He commissioned a certain Pottier to redesign the park in the English style.
In 1785, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans' son, Louis-Philippe Joseph d'Orléans, inherited the estate. In 1787, he ordered the embellishment of the gardens, the park, and the château. For this, he called upon Thomas Blaikie. He hired staff from across the Channel to manage all the park's plantings and activities. The staff and their families were housed in individual cottages and allowed to cultivate a few acres of land for their own use. Gradually, what would be known as the "English hamlet" took shape.

During the Revolution, in 1793, Louis-Philippe Joseph d'Orléans was guillotined, and the sans-culottes ransacked the château, which, in their eyes, represented the opulence of the monarchy. During the Directory, the estate passed through the hands of wealthy men, including one of the Perrin brothers, general contractors for gambling houses in France, who leased it to the munitions supplier Ouvrard. Ouvrard entrusted the demolition and reconstruction of a smaller building to the architect Louis-Martin Berthault. Berthault also redesigned the park. In 1811, Napoleon I, despising Ouvrard whom he considered an exploiter, bought back the park but neglected it. During the French campaign, it was occupied at the end of March 1814 by the Prussian army, which caused considerable damage.

The château and its park were not returned to the Orléans family until 1819. Louis-Philippe I, then Duke of Orléans, and his sister Adélaïde repurchased the estate when the château was completely destroyed. On July 29, 1830, during the revolutionary fervor, Louis Philippe I left his château in Neuilly, dressed as a bourgeois, and cut across the fields to hide at his estate in Le Raincy. Thiers joined him there to offer him the French crown. The February Revolution of 1848 led Louis Philippe I to abdicate on February 24 and leave Paris, then France, for exile in England. The furious and starving mob rushed to the park entrance and ransacked the
houses, looting everything they could find, even decimating the game. For the rebellious inhabitants, the capture of Le Raincy was considered a symbolic victory over the monarchy.
Following the decree of January 10, 1852, ordering the confiscation of the property of the House of Orléans, the park was declared national property. It was subdivided into building lots starting in 1854.

Le Raincy was established as a commune by imperial decree on May 20, 1869, through the detachment of part of Livry, and the municipality acquired the land around 1880.
At the beginning of urbanization, many wealthy bourgeois and aristocratic families bought plots of land and built splendid residences, some of which still stand today. The town was then very sparsely populated and was a renowned resort, prized for its history and appreciated for its greenery and tranquility. Although now fully urbanized, the town has managed to retain these latter characteristics.

Olivier Touzeau, 07 November 2025

Flag of Le Raincy

The arms of Le Raincy are blazoned:
Or an oak eradicated Vert, debruised by a fess Vair, between in base at dexter a crescent Gules and at senester a fleur-de-lis Azure, a bordure Gules too.
The coat of arms features the arms of the House of Orléans (the fleur-de-lis), as well as those of Jacques Bordier (the crescent moon). The red border recalls that the estate was once enclosed by a wall. The oak tree represents the fact that the town was once covered by the Bondy forest, the vair fess overall represents the heraldry of Tiron Abbey. On the fullcoat of arms, there are also two stags on either side, symbolizing the hunting that made Le Raincy famous. The town's motto is: Heri nemus, urbs hodie, meaning "Yesterday forest, today town," often transformed into "Forest I was, town I am."

The flag is white with the coat of arms: photo (2025), photo (2024), photo (2023).

Olivier Touzeau, 07 November 2025