Informations directionnelles

Traverser la rue de Paris, en empruntant la rue carnot. Prendre la première à gauche qui mène à une petite place sur laquelle se trouvent des commerces. A l’angle de cette place, emprunter une petite sente sur votre droite. Tourner à gauche dans la rue de Villeroy. Prendre la première sente sur la gauche pour arriver sur la place des armes. Sur cette place se trouvaient autrefois deux relais de diligence.

Old Covered Market
A dynamic town with regional influence

 

 

A popular market...

The town has been allowed to hold two fairs a year since 1498 by royal consent. In the eighteenth century, Magny was a ‘hub’ between Ile-de-France and Normandy, and its food markets met with great success: local growers could sell their produce there and supply the nearby towns (Poissy, Mantes, Pontoise and Meulan) as well as Paris and Versailles. The ‘halle’ also lay at the heart of the market for grain, fish and veal. The fairs began to decline in the second half of the nineteenth century for a variety of reasons: the drop in the market for Pontoise flour, the arrival of the railway, and the increased price of wheat.

 

 

... housed under cover

The first covered market was built out of wood in 1684, thanks to the generosity of the Marquis de Villeroy. After the Revolution, the halle belonged to the Vallière family, who let it out to the municipality. In 1826, when the heir to the Vallières wanted to raise the rent, the municipal council offered to buy the building, paying for the purchase by renting out pitches in the market and rooms in the attic. When the covered market fell into disrepair, two proposals were made in 1847: to reduce the building by a third or pull it down and build a new one. The latter option was chosen, and the work was financed through a donation made by local resident Alfred Potiquet. The old wooden hall was demolished in 1886 and a new covered market in cast iron was inaugurated in 1887. Problems with the zinc roof meant that the building had to be demolished in 1959 following a decision taken by the municipal council.