Time zone CET (UTC+1) Area 8.92 km² | Region Île-de-France Population (2012) 103,520 INSEE/Postal code 93048 /93100 Local time Saturday 7:50 AM | |
 | ||
Weather 9°C, Wind W at 21 km/h, 82% Humidity Team Cercle athlétique de Montreuil Points of interest Parc des Beaumonts, L'île de Robinson, Musée de l'Histoire Vivante | ||
Montreuil ([mɔ̃.tʁœj], sometimes unofficially called Montreuil-sous-Bois) is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 6.6 km (4.1 mi) from the center of Paris. It is the fourth most populous suburb of Paris (after Boulogne-Billancourt, Saint-Denis and Argenteuil). Montreuil is located near the Bois de Vincennes park.
Contents
- Map of Montreuil France
- Name
- History
- Main artistic heritage
- Immigration
- Administration
- Economy
- Education
- Notable residents and personalities
- Transport
- Twin towns Sister cities
- References
Map of Montreuil, France
Name
The name Montreuil was recorded for the first time in a royal edict of 722 as Monasteriolum, meaning "little monastery" in Medieval Latin. The settlement of Montreuil started as a group of houses built around a small monastery.
History
Under the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XVI the "Peach Walls" which provided the royal court with the fruits were located in Montreuil. It was also later home to the Lumière brothers and George Méliès whose workshops were located in lower Montreuil.
On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes. On that occasion, the commune of Charonne was disbanded and divided between the city of Paris, Montreuil, and Bagnolet. Montreuil received a small part of the territory of Charonne.
Today Montreuil is divided into several districts:
Main artistic heritage
Immigration
Montreuil's inhabitants often exaggeratedly nickname the town the "second Malian town after Bamako", or sometimes "Mali-sous-Bois" or "Bamako-sur-Seine" even if the Seine doesn't cross the town. Montreuil has indeed a very important Malian population : more than 2,000 inhabitants according to the INSEE in 1999, between 6,000 and 10,000 people according to the mairie, which estimates that Montreuil has the largest Malian community in France. 10% of the population is Malian or has Malian origins.
Administration
The mayor of Montreuil is the member of Parti communiste français Patrice Bessac, who was elected on the second round of 2014 municipal elections, defeating the former ex-Communist mayor Jean-Pierre Brard in a four sides second round.
The city is divided into two cantons: canton of Montreuil-1 and canton of Montreuil-2.
Economy
Video game company Ubisoft has its corporate head office in Montreuil. The Air France Paris office (of Air France-KLM) is in Montreuil.
Education
The commune's educational services are operated out of the Opale B Administrative Building. Montreuil has eight collèges, three lycées, two lycées techniques, and the IUT of the University of Paris 8.
Senior high schools/sixth form colleges:
The Montreuil Library (Bibliothèque de Montreuil) consists of the Robert-Desnos Central Library, the Daniel-Renoult Library, the Colonel-Fabien Library, and the Paul-Eluard Library. Robert-Desnos, in a park near the commune's town hall, is the largest library in the commune. It houses a disco and Internet access points. Daniel-Renoult, near Montreau Park, serves the Montreau-Ruffins Théophile Sueur community. Colonel-Fabien, in the Ramenas-Fabien-Léo Lagrange community, is near the Intercommunal Hospital. Paul-Eluard is near the La Grande Porte shopping centre and is within 50 metres (160 ft) of the Robespierre Paris Métro station and Rue de Paris.
Notable residents and personalities
Transport
Montreuil is served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 9: Robespierre, Croix de Chavaux, and Mairie de Montreuil.
Twin towns – Sister cities
Montreuil is twinned with: