Human presence on the Moulon Plateau originates in Neolithic times. Agriculture was developed, notably during the Roman era. Between the 12th and the 18th century, an important Benedictine abbey was housed in Gif. In the 19th century, amid the Industrial Revolution, Gif remained largely agricultural, with operating mills in particular.
Château de Button
In the 1770s, the Château de Button by architect Pierre Desmaisons was completed in Gif. In 1946, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) installed an office and research facility on the property.[3]
In 1867, the town was linked to Paris by train with the Ligne de Sceaux in the valley, which would later become the southern branch of the current-day RER B line.
Église Saint-Rémi in Gif-sur-Yvette
Following the First World War, the Gif commune experienced an important demographic change, with an increasing population. The town took the name of Gif-sur-Yvette in 1930.
Just after the Second World War, Gif-sur-Yvette acquired an international scientific reputation, with the CNRS and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) moving there. The CEA discovered radioactive contamination in a private home in Gif-sur-Yvette in 1974; the home had been built upon a site where needles containing radon gas were once manufactured,[4] starting in 1915. The needles were used to sterilise infected tissue—an idea developed by Marie Curie.
The town was extended in 1975, with the creation of the Chevry neighbourhood, from areas ceded by the Gometz-la-Ville and Gometz-le-Châtel communes.
Some ruins remain of a Benedictineabbey which was built in the 12th century and became a national property in 1789 amid the French Revolution. It was officially registered in 1963.[citation needed]
Gif-sur-Yvette is situated in the "Science Valley" of the Yvette River. Numerous research organisations exist in the area, such as the French National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS), the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives, CEA), Supélec (École supérieure d'électricité), the LGEP (Laboratoire de génie électrique de Paris, associated with Supélec), SOLEIL Synchrotron (Source Optimisée de Lumière d'Energie Intermediaire du LURE) and the Institute of Plant Biotechnology. Further, Gif-sur-Yvette is home to the former Centre national d'étude et de formation of the National Police.[8]
Juliette Adam (1836–1936), founder of the Nouvelle Revue (1879) and operator of a famous literary club during the Third Republic.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor's former country home, Le Moulin de la Tuilerie, a sprawling dwelling created from an old mill and a number of barns, is located on the outskirts of town. The couple bought the buildings in 1952 from the artist Drian and were weekend residents for some 20 years. It was the only home they owned together. It has been restored as three individual holiday homes which are available to rent through the Landmark Trust and Owners Direct in the UK. Among the Windsors' famous guests at the house were Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Cecil Beaton and Marlene Dietrich.
Olpe, Germany, since 2001
