Montreuil (), also known unofficially as Montreuil-sous-Bois (), is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Seine-Saint-Denis department and in the Métropole du Grand Paris. With a population of about 112,000, Montreuil is the third most populous suburb of Paris after Saint-Denis and Boulogne-Billancourt. It is located north of Paris's Bois de Vincennes (in the 12th arrondissement), on the border with Val-de-Marne.

Name The name Montreuil was recorded for the first time in a royal edict of 722 as , meaning "little monastery" in Medieval Latin. The settlement of Montreuil started as a group of houses built around a small Merovingian monastery.

History A small monastery was recorded on the site during the Merovingian period on a hill that overlooked Vincennes, which is most likely where Montreuil gained its name.

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 Georges 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:

Le bas Montreuil (which joins together the old workshops (bordering on Saint-Mandé), the marché aux puces (bordering on Paris, carries of Montreuil), The Mairie (the malls, la croix de Chavaux, the Hôtel de Ville (town hall), and the Church of St Peter and St Paul), La Noue (parc des Guilands, city of du Val, Robespierre, bordering on Bagnolet), Le Bel Air (Jean Moulin housing estate, park des Beaumonts, city of Bel Air, city of Grand Pechers), La Boissière (all the north of Montreuil including parc Montreau and parc des Beaumonts, bordering on Romainville, Noisy-le-Sec, Rosny-sous-Bois and Fontenay-sous-Bois).

Main artistic heritage Decorations (ceramics and frescoes) in the state school "Voltaire" by Maurice Boitel (1954). Many definitive street art murals on several buildings of the city, like the tribute to Frantz Fanon, French psychiatrist and philosopher from the French overseas department of Martinique (boulevard Théophile Sueur). "Au temps d'harmonie", pointillist painting from famous 19th century French painter Paul Signac, in the town hall. Polyptych (enamels), in the cathedral entrance of the Georges Méliès student residence by Guillaume Bottazzi.

Heraldry

Geography Climate

Montreuil has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). The average annual temperature in Montreuil is . The average annual rainfall is with May as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Montreuil was on 25 July 2019 and 12 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 17 January 1985.

Demographics Population

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 though the Seine does not cross the town. Montreuil has indeed a very important Malian population: more than inhabitants according to the INSEE in 1999, between and people according to the mairie, Le cercle de Yelimané sur le site de la mairie de Montreuil which estimates that Montreuil has the largest Malian community in France. 10% of the population is Malian or has Malian origins. c dans l'air émission du 04/04/2012 http://www.france5.fr/c-dans-l-air/international/aqmi-main-basse-sur-le-mali-35834

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-way second round. He was re-elected in the first round of the 2020 elections with 51.34% votes, though with 33.67% participation (down from 53.11% in the 2014 election) due to the COVID-19 crisis (which also caused a delay of the 2nd turn in other cities). He was re-elected in 2026.

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."World Presence France." Ubisoft. Retrieved on 20 August 2011. "Worldwide Headquarters 28 rue Armand Carrel 93 108 Montreuil Cedex " The Air France Paris office (of Air France-KLM) is in Montreuil."Contact Us ." Air France-KLM ONE. Retrieved on 18 June 2010."AIR FRANCE office, Paris ." Air France-KLM. Retrieved on 18 June 2010."Montreuil et 6 secteurs ." Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis. Retrieved on 18 June 2010.

Education The commune's educational services are operated out of the Opale B Administrative Building."Inscrire son enfant à l'école ." Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis. Retrieved on 18 June 2010. Montreuil has eight collèges, three lycées, two lycées techniques, and the IUT of the University of Paris 8."Jeunesse (12-25 ans) > Enseignement ." Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis. Retrieved on 18 June 2010.

Senior high schools/sixth form colleges:"Les jeunes (12-25 ans) > L'enseignement ." Montreuil. Retrieved on September 2, 2016. Lycée Eugénie-Cotton Lycée Jean Jaurès Lycée Condorcet

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."Réseau ." Montreuil Library. Retrieved on 18 June 2010. Robert-Desnos, in a park near the commune's town hall, is the largest library in the commune. It houses a music library and Internet access points."Robert-Desnos ." Montreuil Library. Retrieved on 18 June 2010. "Située dans le parc près de la mairie, la bibliothèque centrale Robert Desnos est la plus grande de la ville. Elle abrite également une discothèque, et des postes d'accès à Internet." Daniel-Renoult, near Montreau Park, serves the Montreau-Ruffins Théophile Sueur community."Daniel-Renoult ." Montreuil Library. Retrieved on 18 June 2010. "Tout près du Parc Montreau, la bibliothèque Daniel-Renoult irrigue le quartier Montreau Ruffins Théophile Sueur." Colonel-Fabien, in the Ramenas-Fabien-Léo Lagrange community, is near the Intercommunal Hospital."Colonel-Fabien ." Montreuil Library. Retrieved on 18 June 2010. "Au coeur du quartier Ramenas-Fabien- Léo Lagrange, près du Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal," Paul-Eluard is near the La Grande Porte shopping centre and is within of the Robespierre Paris Métro station and Rue de Paris."Paul-Eluard ." Montreuil Library. Retrieved on 18 June 2010. "A deux pas du centre commercial La Grande Porte, à 50 m du métro Robespierre et de la rue de Paris."

Notable residents and personalities

Djamel Abdoun, Algerian footballer who played at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Mehdi Abeid, Algerian footballer Nicolas Aithadi, Visual Effects, Guardians of the Galaxy Jean-Claude Andruet, rally driver Oumar Bakari, footballer Vicki Bècho, footballer for France Rosette Bir, sculptor Sacha Boey, footballer Élodie Bouchez, actress Jacques Brel, singer/songwriter/actor Souarata Cisse, basketball player Olivier Dacourt, footballer Henri Decaë, cinematographer Jean Delannoy, director Yehvann Diouf, Senegalese Footballer Emmanuel Flipo, artist Pape Gueye, footballer Christophe Guilluy, geographer Adèle Haenel, actress Helno (Noël Rota) (1963-1993), singer with Lucrate Milk, Bérurier Noir & Les Négresses Vertes William Mallet, perpetrator of the 2022 Paris shooting Ethan Mbappé, footballer Pierre de Montreuil, 13th century architect, died in 1267 in Paris Nordi Mukiele, footballer Sikou Niakate, footballer Elisha Owusu, footballer Émile Reynaud, director Mamadou Samassa, footballer Gaston-Auguste Schweitzer, sculptor Abel Thermeus, footballer Tignous, cartoonist and activist killed in the Charlie Hebdo shooting Frédéric Verger, writer Warren Zaïre-Emery, footballer

Transport Montreuil is served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 9: Robespierre, Croix de Chavaux, and Mairie de Montreuil.

There are several new Métro (Line 11 - Montreuil-Hôpital) and tramway (extension of the T1 tramway) stations under construction. The region is also working on the extension of the Métro Line 1 to Val-de-Fontenay, with a possible new station in the East of Montreuil (Grands Pêchers).

International relations

Montreuil is twinned with Cottbus, Brandenburg, Germany and a few other towns and cities of Africa, Asia and Europe.

See also Hornec gang Gaston-Auguste Schweitzer Birthplace of this sculptor Pierre de Montreuil Musée de l'Histoire vivante

References

External links

Official website