It includes the municipalities of Gif-sur-Yvette (Quartier de Moulon), Orsay, Palaiseau, Saclay, Saint-Aubin, Vauhallan, Villiers-le-Bâcle in the department of Essonne, Toussus-le-Noble, Châteaufort, Les Loges-en-Josas and Buc in Yvelines.
When, from 1670, Louis XIV built his Versailles Castle, he asked Le Nôtre to create a sumptuous park enlivened by a myriad of fountains, waterfalls and ponds.
Many grandes écoles and research centers are located on the plateau,[4] and it is anticipated that the campus becomes one of the most important in Europe in the coming years.
[5] Municipalities are part of the plateau agglomeration communities: It is crossed from north to south by the Route nationale 118, the axis Boulogne-Billancourt - Les Ulis.
Recent work on the plateau by archaeologists from Inrap and CNRS show the presence of an almost continuous occupation since the first Iron Age.
It became, in the sixteenth century, a hamlet around a farm belonging to the family Mérault, which managed to establish an area of 256 hectares, divided later.