Saint-Sauveur-sur-École

Saint-Sauveur-sur-École, in the Seine-et-Marne department of Île-de-France, sits in the Gâtinais region. Located about 11.5 km from Melun and 18 km from Fontainebleau, the town has a long history and is linked to the Paris area.

Historically called "Sanctus Salvator super Scholam," Saint-Sauveur developed along the École River, with early settlements built safely away from its floods. Archaeological finds include remnants of a Gallo-Roman villa and medieval buildings in various local hamlets, such as Brainville and Faronville. The town’s oldest monument is the Church of Saint-Eutrope, dating back to the 13th century, with later additions in the 17th century.

Until the French Revolution, much of the land was owned by Paris monks, who managed it from Faronville. During the 14th century, the river was channeled to power mills, which supported the local grain industry until the early 1900s. The town also had a strong wine-making tradition, with a communal wine press in Brinville, and it later became known for its laundries, sending cleaned linens weekly to Paris.

In the 19th century, green marl extraction and a brickworks flourished in Etrelles, though these declined with industrial advances. Near Orgenoy, millstone quarrying provided building material for local structures. Workers transported stones by train (until 1950) and boats along the river, leaving a legacy of quarry stone in Saint-Sauveur’s traditional buildings.

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