Créteil () is a
commune in the southeastern suburbs of
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
,
Île-de-France
The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...
. It is located from the
centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''
préfecture'' (capital) of the
Val-de-Marne department as well as the seat of the
Arrondissement of Créteil. The city is, moreover, the seat of a
Roman Catholic diocese and of one of France's 30 nationwide ''académies'' (districts) of the
Ministry of National Education Ministry of National Education can refer to:
* Ministry of National Education (Algeria)
* Ministry of National Education (Colombia)
* Ministry of National Education (France)
* Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs ( Greece)
* Minist ...
.
Name
The name Créteil was recorded for the first time as ''Cristoilum'' in the
martyrology written by a
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
named
Usuard in 865. The name ''Cristoilum'' is made of the
Celtic word ''ialo'' (meaning "clearing, glade", "place of") suffixed to a pre-Latin radical ''crist-'' whose meaning is still unclear. Some believe ''crist'' is a Celtic word meaning "ridge", a cognate of
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
''crista'' and modern French ''crête'', in which case the meaning of ''Cristoilum'' would be "clearing on the ridge" or "place on the ridge." A more traditional etymology was that ''crist'' referred to
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, due to the very ancient presence of Christianity in Créteil and the veneration of
Saint Agoard and Agilbert of Créteil, martyred in Créteil around AD 400.
Geography
Créteil is a city in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris. It is watered by the
Marne river which carries out its last loop before the junction with the
Seine
The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plate ...
at the Charenton-le-Pont. The area is an alluvial plain eroded by the action of the Marne and the Seine. Bordering communes include
Maisons-Alfort,
Saint-Maur-des-Fossés,
Bonneuil-sur-Marne,
Limeil-Brévannes,
Valenton
Valenton () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.
It extends over of which are green spaces. The most important public green space is the Plage Bleue Park where different events a ...
,
Choisy-le-Roi and
Alfortville
Alfortville () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.
History
The commune of Alfortville was created on 1 April 1885 from part of the commune of Mais ...
.
Climate
The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. According to the
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
system, Créteil has a
marine west coast climate, abbreviated "Cfb" on climate maps.
History
Some rare flints from the
Palaeolithic age are still being found in modern times in the area. It is, however, a two-
ton,
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...
-era polishing machine that is the prehistoric pride of Créteil. The first documents referring to Créteil are from the
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
era, when it was known as ''Vicus Cristoilum The name comes from the prefix ''crist'' and ''oilum''. These two terms are thought to be
Gallic: "clearing" for ''oilum'' and "ridge" for ''crist''. The "clearing" of the "ridge" of the Mont-Mesly is on the road connecting Paris and Sens (Trunk Road 19 today). In 1406, the place name "Créteil" makes its appearance after successive deformations from ''Cristoill'' (1278), ''Cristeuil'', ''Cresteul'' then ''Creteuil''.
During the
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mil ...
(1567), the
Huguenots
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Bez ...
plundered the church and burned the local charters. New disorders in 1648 forced the evacuation of the inhabitants of Créteil. The end of
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ve ...
's reign was marked by a great food shortage throughout the whole of France after a terrible winter in 1709 that resulted in 69 recorded deaths in Créteil. Registers of grievances from the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
in 1789 mention Créteil 15 times.
At the beginning of the 18th century, construction of the first middle-class "Parisian" houses began. In 1814, the east of Créteil was taken by Russian troops. The bridge which spans the Marne between Creteil and Saint-Maur-des-Fossés was inaugurated on 9 April 1841, replacing an ancient ferry.
The
Franco-Prussian War of 1870 was particularly cruel for Créteil. The borough was plundered and left in ruins by the Prussians, while the nearby battle of Mont-Mesly on 30 November 1870, left 179 dead. Créteil gave up its pastoral character after World War II. The population subsequently rose from 13,800 in 1954 to 30,654 in 1962.
L'
Abbaye de Créteil or Abbaye group was a utopian artistic and literary community founded during 1906 named after the Créteil Abbey near to where some members lived and where the group held meetings. At the time Créteil was still mostly pastoral, some of which remains in the forested parkland of the riverside district on and around Ile Sainte-Catherine.
Although the group was short-lived, disbanding by 1908, it attracted artists, writers and philosophers to become associated with the
Symbolist and
Futurist movements such as
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, author of the
Futurist Manifesto
The ''Manifesto of Futurism'' ( Italian: ''Manifesto del Futurismo'') is a manifesto written by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and published in 1909. Marinetti expresses an artistic philosophy called Futurism that was a rejection ...
, and
Constantin Brâncuși.
In 1965, the city became a Préfecture of the new department of the ''Val-de-Marne''.
The lake
Créteil Lake began as a gypsum and gravel quarry. Once the
groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidat ...
was reached, forming deep ponds, the quarry was abandoned and allowed to fill with water. The lake area is now a popular recreational site attracting fishermen, boaters, wind surfers, etc...
Demographics
Population
Immigration
Health
As of 1 January 2006, 27
pharmacies, about 60 dentists, about 60 general practitioners, 10
pediatrician
Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...
s, and a half-dozen ophthalmologists and dermatologists constitute the general medical staff of the city.
Health facilities include:
*CHU Henri Mondor, a publicly owned hospital inaugurated on 2 December 1969. Conceived initially for 1,300 beds, its capacity today is 958 beds. It employs more than 3,000 people including more than 2,600 looking after patients. Its expenditure in 2004 was 241M€.
*Centre hospitalier intercommunal de Créteil, inaugurated on 3 November 1937. Capacity of reception of 530 in-patients as against 264 in 1937. The construction of this establishment was decided in 1932 by grouping the communes of the Bonneuil-sur-Marne, Creteil and Joinville-le-Pont within an inter-communal syndicate. Saint-Maur-des-Fossés joined this syndicate later. Originally, a number of the hospital personnel were religious sisters. In 2004, 38,037 hospitalizations were listed, with 2,551 childbirths and 12,838 surgical interventions. ] It employs approximately 2,000 people with about 1,600 of them caring for patients in medical or other capacities.
*Centre de Transfusion sanguine. The Blood Transfusion Centre of Creteil is run by the inter-communal Hospital. This service treats from 600 to 1,000 requests per day.
*Albert Chenevier Hospital. A publicly owned hospital, with a 463-bed capacity. There are 118 beds in the psychiatric ward.
Education
Primary and secondary schools
Public schools:
*24 preschools
*24 elementary schools
*Eight junior high schools: Clément Guyard,
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
, Louis Issaurat, Amédée Laplace,
Louis Pasteur, Plaissance, Albert Schweitzer, and
Simone-de-Beauvoir[Collèges]
" Créteil. Retrieved on 4 September 2016.
*Four high schools:
Lycée Léon Blum,
Lycée Édouard Branly,
Lycée Gutenberg, and
Lycée Antoine de Saint-Exupery[Lycées]
" Créteil. Retrieved on 4 September 2016.
Private schools:
*
Ozar HaTorah Ozar Hatorah ( he, אוצר התורה, lit=treasure of Torah) is an organization created in 1945 to provide Orthodox Jewish education. It began by setting up schools in Mandate Palestine, and after the foundation of the modern Israeli state, it ...
(Jewish school, includes preschool, elementary school,
[Écoles maternelles et élémentaires privées ]
" Créteil. Retrieved on 4 September 2016. a junior high school divided into boys' and girls' schools,
[ and a high school divided into boys' and girls' schools][)
*De Maillé (elementary school,][ junior high school][)
*]Lycée général et technologique de l'ensemble Sainte-Marie
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children betwee ...
[
* Lycée d'enseignement supérieur technique privé SUPTEK][
]
Universities
The city hosts Paris 12 Val de Marne University
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Sin ...
, officially the Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne University, founded in 1970. Previously known as Université Paris 12 Val de Marne or Université Paris XII, the university serves more than 30,000 students and consists of seven units of formation and research (UFR), namely law, administration, literature, medicine, business & management, educational sciences and technological sciences.
Transport
Créteil is served by four stations on Paris Métro Line 8: Créteil – L'Échat, Créteil – Université, Créteil – Préfecture and the newly opened (in 2011) Pointe du Lac.
Sport
US Créteil-Lusitanos, founded in 1936, is the city's football club. They currently play in National Championship (3rd division) and their home stadium is Stade Dominique Duvauchelle
Stade Dominique Duvauchelle is a multi-use stadium in Créteil, France. It takes its name from a local sports journalist who died shortly before the stadium's inauguration. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium ...
.
Notable people
* Jordan Aboki, basketball player
*Bertrand Amoussou-Guenou
Bertrand Amoussou-Guenou (born May 29, 1966) is a retired French mixed martial artist and judoka. He is a trainer for his younger brother Karl of ''Team Amoussou'' and, following official recognition of mixed martial arts in France, became ...
, mixed martial artist
* Jacques Barzun, author, historian
*Mathieu Bastareaud
Mathieu Bastareaud (; born 17 September 1988 in Créteil) is a French rugby union player who plays Number 8 for Toulon in the Top 14. Originally a Centre, he played for RC Massy, Stade Français, and then eight seasons at the Toulon with whom ...
, rugby player
*Herve Bazile
Herve (; li, Herf; wa, Heve) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2018 Herve had a total population of 17,598. The total area is which gives a population density of .
It is famed ...
, footballer
*Maxime Biamou
Maxime Gérard Biamou Ngapmou Yoke (born 13 November 1990) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker.
Career
Born in Créteil, Biamou grew up in Bonneuil-sur-Marne and later trained at the CFFP in Paris. His early career was i ...
, footballer
*Stephane Caristan Stephane may refer to:
* Stéphane, a French given name
* Stephane (Ancient Greece), a vestment in ancient Greece
* Stephane (Paphlagonia)
Stephane ( grc, Στεφάνη) was a small port town on the coast of ancient Paphlagonia, according to Arria ...
, athlete
* Isaia Cordinier, basketball player
*Bruno Coqueran
Bruno Coqueran (born 19 June 1970 in Créteil
Créteil () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne department ...
, basketball player
*Eddy de Pretto
Eddy de Pretto (born 2 May 1993 in Créteil in the Val-de-Marne) is a French singer-songwriter and actor.
Early life
Eddy de Pretto was born on 2 May 1993 and grew up in Créteil in the Val-de-Marne. His father is a truck driver and footbal ...
, singer
* Mohamed Diamé, footballer
*Philippe Di Folco
Philippe Di Folco (born 20 June 1964 in Choisy-le-Roi) is a French author and teacher.
Biography
Born and raised in Val de Marne, near Paris, France, Philippe Di Folco studied Economics and Literature at School for Advanced Studies in the Soci ...
, writer
*Herve Ebanda
Herve (; li, Herf; wa, Heve) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2018 Herve had a total population of 17,598. The total area is which gives a population density of .
It is famed ...
, footballer
*Sylviane Félix
Sylviane Felix (born 31 October 1977 in Créteil, France) is a track and field sprint athlete, competing internationally for France, who won the bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, G ...
, athlete
* Lina Jacques-Sebastien, athlete
* Madeleine Jurgens, archivist
* Lahaou Konate, basketball player
* Jessie Londas, footballer
* Azrack Mahamat, footballer
* Axel Médéric, figure skater
*Modibo Niakate Modibo or more correctlyMoodibbo in Fula or Fulfulde Orthography is a given name in some Fulɓe or Fulani regions, while in some regions it's used as a form of respect which means a learned scholar. Others are named moodibbo after one's parents or g ...
, basketball player
*Michael Nkololo
Michaël Jordan Nkololo (born 9 November 1992) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and forward for Saudi club Al-Shaeib.
Club career Châteauroux
Nkololo began his career at Châteauroux and made his deb ...
, footballer
*Fabien Paschal
Fabien Paschal (born April 17, 1991 in Creteil, France) is a French basketball player who plays for French Pro A League club Le Havre.
Career
Paschal signed a 3-year contract with BCM Gravelines
Basket Club Maritime Gravelines-Dunkerque, comm ...
, basketball player
*Marc Raquil
Marc Raquil (born 2 April 1977 in Créteil) is a French runner of Martinique, Martiniquais origin who competes in the 400 metres and 4x400m relay.
He won the 4x400m relay gold medal and the 400m silver medal at the 2003 World Championships in Athl ...
, athlete
* Christopher Samba, footballer
* Camille Serme, squash player
* Richard Soumah, footballer
*Sammy Traoré
Sammy Traoré (born 25 February 1976 in Créteil) is a French and Malian football manager, as a player his preferred position was a defender. He made good use of the stepover technique, rarely seen in defenders, to maintain possession and als ...
, footballer
*Dan-Axel Zagadou
Dan-Axel Zagadou (born 3 June 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. He has represented France from under-16 to under-21 levels.
Club career Early career
Zagadou began his caree ...
, footballer
Twin towns – sister cities
Créteil is twinned
Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to:
* In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so;
* Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning
* Twinning inst ...
with:
* Les Abymes, Guadeloupe, France
* Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
, Scotland, United Kingdom
* Gyumri, Armenia
* Kiryat Yam, Israel
* Mataró
Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the ''comarca'' of the Maresme, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia Autonomous Community, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar a ...
, Spain
* Loulé, Portugal
* Playa (Havana), Cuba
* Salzgitter, Germany
See also
* Communes of the Val-de-Marne department
References
External links
Official website
Paris XII- Val-de-Marne University located in Créteil
{{DEFAULTSORT:Creteil
Communes of Val-de-Marne
Cities in Île-de-France
Prefectures in France