one of the oldest and most distinguished families of the French nobility, who owed their name to the location of their ancestral castle on the promontory of Montmorency. The castle of Montmorency was destroyed by the English during the Hundred Years' War and was not rebuilt. After the Hundred Years' War, the Montmorency moved their residence to the Château d'Écouen in Écouen, to the northeast of Montmorency. In 1632 the last Montmorency, Henri II de Montmorency, was executed for treason in Toulouse and the duchy of Montmorency was inherited by the Princes of Condé, a cadet branch of the French royal family who, like the Montmorency, did not reside in Montmorency, choosing instead the Château de Chantilly as their residence. In 1689 King Louis XIV allowed the duchy of Montmorency to be renamed duchy of Enghien, in memory of the duchy of Enghien (modern-day Belgium) which the Princes of Condé had lost in 1569 at the death of Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé. Montmorency/Enghien was the fief of the Princes of Condé until the French Revolution. The art collector Pierre Crozat had a country retreat here in the first half of the 18th century, the fashionable Château de Montmorency, which was at the centre of social gatherings. It contained a chapel decorated in 1715-16 by Pierre Le Gros the Younger and paintings by Charles de La Fosse. The building was demolished in 1817. In addition, the Montmorency cherry, a popular sour cherry variety, derives its name from the town. Population Transport The closest station to Montmorency is Enghien-les-Bains station on the Transilien Paris-Nord suburban rail line and it takes 15 minutes from Paris Gare du Nord to get there. This station is located in the neighboring commune of Enghien-les-Bains, from the town center of Montmorency. From there you can take the buses 15M or 13 to get into the city center. Education Primary schools: Three combined preschools (maternelles) and elementary schools: Pasteur, La Fontaine, and Sablons preschool/Jules Ferry elementary Preschool only: Jules Ferry preschool and Ferdinand Buisson preschool Elementary school only: Ferdinand Buisson elementary Secondary schools: Junior high schools: Charles-Le-Brun and Pierre-de-Ronsard Senior high schools: Lycée d'enseignement général Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Lycée professionnel Turgot Personalities Jean Jacques Rousseau, philosopher, writer, and composer Richard Wagner, composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor Heinrich Heine, German poet, writer and literary critic Marie-Hélène Arnaud, model and actress Christian Nade, footballer Quentin Lévy,