The commune of Guyancourt comprises several districts.
The first of them, corresponding to the old village, is known as
"le village", the others are named:
Bouviers (Herdsmen), ancient hamlet of the village
Although located in the Paris suburbs, more than half of the territory of the commune of Guyancourt is covered in natural spaces: forests, wood, parks, gardens and ponds.
History
Prehistoric
The site of the city was already inhabited by Neolithic tribes who left hundreds of vestiges such as arrows, flint scrapers, polished axes... which have been recovered in the districts of Bouviers, Troux and Villaroy.
Antiquity
The civilization continued through Roman times, as Mr. Leclère, a farmer, demonstrated in a fortuitous way in 1892 by unearthing an antique ballot box in his field.
The religious life
Work to restore the church Saint-Victor put the date of the sarcophages at the Merovingian era (from the seventh century). It is believed that the construction of the first church dates from the fourteenth century. Several funerary vases and a tomb stone
dating from the sixteenth century were updated. The church was renovated in the fifteenth century, then entirely rebuilt in the sixteenth century. The most recent restoration goes back to 1998.
Guyancourt and the Palace of Versailles
Guyancourt forms part of the "Grand Parc" of the sun king Soleil (Louis XIV), which extended around the castle of Versailles. The essential vocation of the populous communes neighbouring the castle is market-gardening, to provide for the important needs for the Court.
French revolution
Thanks to the register of grievances sent to the governmental authorities (1789), we know that Guyancourtois, who were mostly modest peasants, lived with difficulty under conditions of famine.
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870
France is partly occupied by the Prussian armies. The enemy spreads terror, the houses are plundered, the inhabitants maltreated. Four hundred of them (an enormous figure for the time) prefer to flee.
The 1900s
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Guyancourt was a large village where one cultivates corn, oats, beets, fodder and potatoes. The trades were numerous, with almost 16 wine merchants for 614 inhabitants.
The war of 1914–1918 cost the lives of thirty-six Guyancourtois. The war of 1939–1945 also touched Guyancourt, which was liberated by August 25, 1944.
The end of the twentieth century
Starting from the beginning of the 1950s, the Paris area saw a considerable demographic growth. To structure the development of the suburbs, it was decided to create several new towns around Paris, one of which being Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. The new city of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines includes today seven communes (eleven in the beginning), one of which is Guyancourt. In 1950 Guyancourt was only one small village. The commune grew since 1970 to reach the figure of 27,000 inhabitants in 2004.
Population
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1793
548
—
1800
561
+0.34%
1806
594
+0.96%
1821
610
+0.18%
1831
628
+0.29%
1836
585
−1.41%
1841
683
+3.15%
1846
699
+0.46%
1851
645
−1.60%
1856
577
−2.20%
1861
624
+1.58%
1866
630
+0.19%
1872
636
+0.16%
1876
665
+1.12%
1881
698
+0.97%
1886
652
−1.35%
1891
708
+1.66%
1896
710
+0.06%
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1901
614
−2.86%
1906
644
+0.96%
1911
636
−0.25%
1921
684
+0.73%
1926
848
+4.39%
1931
852
+0.09%
1936
824
−0.67%
1946
856
+0.38%
1954
1,010
+2.09%
1962
1,244
+2.64%
1968
1,493
+3.09%
1975
3,450
+12.71%
1982
10,983
+17.99%
1990
18,307
+6.60%
1999
25,079
+3.56%
2007
28,563
+1.64%
2012
28,039
−0.37%
2017
28,633
+0.42%
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Roland Nadaus [fr]: Poet, writer, lampoonist, storyteller, lyric writer, novelist, local councillor and départemental. The author of about thirty works, he also assumed several mandates of mayor, advising general, and President of the urban community (then called the SAN, trade union of new agglomeration).
Economy
Industrial fabric
Guyancourt accommodates not only many SME and trade, but also several large companies, such as:
Guyancourt is home to a campus of the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin. The buildings located in the commune relate to the lessons on human rights and the social sciences.
One also finds there research laboratories of the INRA (National Institute of Agronomic Research)