Buc is located some 20 km south-west of centralParis and 3 km south ofVersailles.
The old town lies in the valley of theRiver Bièvre at an elevation of around 100 m above sea level. Most of Buc's residential districts have been built on theplateau de Saclay, some 50 m higher.
The name Buc derives from theLatinbuscum which meansboxwood. The inhabitants of Buc are known in French asBucois (m.) andBucoises (f.).
Buc's coat of arms
quarterly, the first azure a propeller in bend between a fleur-de-lis sinister and a horseshoe dexter all or, the second gules a cinquefoil vert, the third gules an aqueduct of four arches argent masoned sable, the fourth argent three bars wavy azure
Territory attached to the domain of Versailles in 1660 and used to be frequented byLouis XIV of France mostly for hunting.
Aqueduc de Buc : Built byFrançois Michel Le Tellier de Louvois in 1686. This aqueduct purpose was to provide water drained from the Ponds ofSaclay (more precisely,ponds of Saclé,Pont Salé andSaint-Hubert by the time it was used) and delivered to the Domain of thePalace of Versailles, known as well as theGardens of Versailles, in order to supply huge amounts of water to its multitude of fountains and basins. The aqueduct has 19 millstone arches, is 21 meters high and 580 meters long. Now disused, this great architectural work has been classifiedMonument historique in 1952.
Château du Haut-Buc : This ancient little castle was part of the Grand parc de Versailles (Great Versailles Domain) and was used byLouis XIV of France to accommodate his sonLouis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse (1681), duc de Penthièvre (1697), d'Arc, de Châteauvillain and de Rambouillet (1711) which later moved into the Pavillon des Eaux atLouveciennes. Le Château du Haut-Buc was destroyed in 1740 on order ofLouis XV of France. The actual castle, thecommune property, was rebuilt on the same site in 1864. Today the castle is often used as a showroom as well as a music school. Its park has a playground and a soccer, rugby and basketball pitch .
Fort du Haut-Buc : Made between 1814 and 1880, thisfortification used to be part of the second fortifieddefence belt ofParis between 1874 and 1882. Thismilitary building is currently unaffected and is completely abandoned since 1995.[6]
Near the aqueduct and thePond of La Geneste (part of the ponds of La Minière), theOak ofLouis XIV, which is probably more than 500 years old, survived a great storm which occurred in 1999, devastating much of the forest. Unfortunately this emblematic tree collapsed from age in the last week of 2004. Buc's forest is part of the Forêt de Versailles (Versailles forest).
Buc locallegend : Some people assert thatbeavers can be observed inLa Bièvre whereas nothing really proves the presence of such inhabitants. This river get its name from theLatin wordbiber which meansbeaver, which explains the legend. But other roots can be found likebeber (meaning "brown"), which could describe the natural color of the water, orbibere (to drink), which is more than enjoyable on the evening, facing the pond of La Geneste in a peaceful atmosphere with some friends and a good pack ofKronenbourgs. And surprisingly, it is at those moments that beavers are more likely to appear.
In 2005, the commune has been rewarded« Ville Internet @@ »[7] (« Internet city @@ ») as well as in 2008 and 2010.[8][9] This reward is highly decorative under the Buc's entrance street sign.
TheYvelines department has been created in 1968. This one was subsequently part of theSeine-et-Oise department. Jehan Despert is considered as the "father" of theYvelines. He is the one whom suggested to the president of the County Council of Seine-et-Oise of that time,Gaston Palewski, the name of this department at its creation, in reference to the ancient Yveline forest from which radiate most of the water streams that irrigate the department. The actual Foret de Rambouillet (Rambouillet forest) constituted its remains.
Buc is not served by any station of theParis Métro,RER, or suburban rail network. The closest stations to Buc areVersailles Chantiers andPetit Jouy–Les Loges [fr]. One bus line (Bus 262) links the city toVersailles. It takes 5–15 minutes (If you are located in the Bas-Buc) to 10–30 minutes (if you are located in the Haut-Buc) to reach Versailles Chantier station depending on the traffic. Many buses go through Buc: the 102, 103, 104, 6179, 6180, 6181, 6182, 6183, 6184, 117, 6177, 6160, 6161, 6162, 6163 and 6164.
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