Mont Valérien

Suresnes

The highest point of the hills of western Paris at 161 m, Mont Valérien overlooks the loop of the Seine, straddling Suresnes, Nanterre and Rueil-Malmaison. Its religious vocation began in 1556, when the recluse Guillemette Faussart had a chapel built there; hermits settled and, in the 16th and 17th centuries, formed a community living in cells, between prayer and working the land — there were still some forty of them in 1790. In 1633–1634 the priest Hubert Charpentier, backed by Cardinal Richelieu, raised three monumental crosses there and organised the "Calvary of Paris": pilgrims crossed the Seine and climbed a Way of the Cross lined with chapels paid for by courtiers, much frequented during Holy Week. The very name of the place, according to recent research, would come from a pamphlet of 1621, the Méditations de l'hermite Valérian, which described the court as seen from a hermitage on this hill. The Revolution pulled down the crosses and dispersed the hermits; in 1841 Louis-Philippe and Thiers razed most of the religious buildings to build one of the forts of the Paris fortifications. Few French hills stack up in this way, over a few hectares, hermitage, calvary, fortress and a great site of national memory.

MUS — Musée d'Histoire urbaine et sociale de Suresnes ↗

Getting there : Transilien line L to Suresnes-Mont-Valérien station from Paris-Saint-Lazare, or tram T2 to the Suresnes-Longchamp stop, then a 20- to 25-minute climb. The fort remains a military site and is not freely open to visitors. The remains of the religious past (chapel and calvary) belong to a religious community and open only exceptionally. The Parc du Mont-Valérien, lower down, is freely accessible and offers a panorama over the loop of the Seine. The coordinates mark the fort, at the summit.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound