Our favourite: the troglodyte homes near the Town Hall (Mairie) park.

To find out more: the discovery booklet published by the town takes you on a fascinating tour of the little streets, revealing the town’s history.

Carrières was originally a simple land where men dwelled in quarries and lived by hunting and gathering.  Back in the 1500s, the town fell victim to invasion by the Celts and then the Romans.  The Huns and the Vandals were the next to inflict terror on the town, followed by the Vikings, between 830 and 880, who besieged the small town of Carrières due to its important strategic position on the river.
In the 12^th century, Suger founded an abbey here, and the town – now called Carrières-Saint-Denis – was struck by famine, drought and bad harvests. 
Five centuries later, Henri II and then Henri IV came hunting in the area, and later still, the Sun King’s favourite, Louise de la Vallière, came to spend time here.
In the 19^th century, exploitation of the quarries reached its peak, due to the frenzied building activity headed by Haussmann in Paris.  Carrières had by now become a village of wine producers and farmers, attracting a number of Impressionist artists, among them Monet who painted "Carrières-Saint-Denis" in 1878.