Rueil-Malmaison [key], town (1990 pop. 67,323), Hauts-de-Seine dept., N central France. It is an industrial center where metals, armaments, photographic equipment, film, pharmaceuticals, and automobile accessories are produced. Food products are also manufactured there. The town was originally a resort of the Merovingian kings (5th–7th cent.). It was bought by Cardinal Richelieu, who built an estate there and who carried on extensive construction during the early 17th cent. Napoleon lived there from 1800 to 1804 and the Empress Josephine and her daughter are buried in the town. Napoleon's home, the famous Malmaison, is now a museum housing artifacts from the Napoleonic period.
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