Chilly-Mazarin - Tourism, Holidays & Weekends (2024)

Chilly-Mazarin is a town in Essonne, in Ile-de-France, some 18 km southwest of Paris.

The locality develops over the centuries because of its proximity to Paris. A Roman aqueduct connects it to the capital from the third century onwards, and from the medieval period, large estates were established there, notably with the heirs of Cardinal Mazarin (who gave it its name). The wine industry has given way to the tertiary sector (railway, highway and then to a part of the territory of Orly airport).

The demographic growth (1600 inhabitants at the Liberation, about 19 400 today) which makes Chilly-Mazarin a residential city is accompanied however with a concern to preserve the natural heritage (there remain 20 hectares of green areas).

Chilly-Mazarin has an interesting built heritage that the visitor can discover starting from the church of St. Stephen, built in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and which houses several classified elements. In the choir, woodwork and two statues of marble come from a former priory, and one will linger for example on a altarpiece decorated with a painting of the seventeenth.

To see also, the castle of Chilly-Mazarin which today houses the town hall. It dates from the 17th century, when the architect Métezeau reorganized a first medieval building and also designed a French garden. The oldest elements have been classified, the main building having been transformed in the nineteenth to become a neo-classical residence.

Finally, one can take interest in the listed remains of the Castle of Bel-Abord, still in the city center. Dating from the 17th century, the building was destroyed in the 1960s but there remains a porte-cochere, a wall and a pavilion called Louis XIII. The rest was transformed into a residence.

Besides high-quality cultural leisure activities (a multimedia library and a cinema of art and essay, in particular), Chilly-Mazarin also offers interesting bucolic places of walk.

This is the case of the city hall park (3.5 hectares), including a 3000 m² animal park, a pedagogic vegetable garden and children's playgrounds.

The Parc des Champs-Foux offers 3000 m² of illuminated paths that crisscross its 3.5 hectares.

Finally, the wood of Saint-Eloi and the plain of Balizy that the town manages with its neighbor of Longjumeau constitute on 23 hectares a veritable green lung, classified as sensitive natural space. Many trails also accessible to mountain bike have been arranged for the amateurs.

For the various parks, information on +33 1 69 10 37 00.

It should be noted that the municipal swimming pool is equipped with a 25 m pool that is discovered in summer. There is also a solarium. Information on +33 1 69 09 61 87.

In addition to the concerts and shows scheduled throughout the year, Chilly-Mazarin is one of the cities that hosts in November the departmental performance festival Si (non) Yes, which offers artistic and musical happenings.

In another genre, the fair carnival takes place during the second fortnight of May in the park of the Champs-Foux. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from 8 am to 1 pm, the Market Place de la Libération is the meeting place for lovers of fresh and gourmet food.

Regular entertainment is offered in parallel, during Mother's Day, the arrival of new wines or, for example, at the end of the year.