Colombes () is a commune in the northwestern 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. Si ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the 53rd largest city in France.

Name

The name Colombes comes from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...

''columna'' (

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...

''colombe''), meaning "column". This is interpreted as referring either to a

megalithic A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

column used in ancient times by a

druidic A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...

cult which stood in Colombes until its destruction during 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 ...

, or to the columns of an atrium in a ruined Gallo-Roman

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became ...

that also stood in Colombes.

History

On 13 March 1896, 17% of the territory of Colombes was detached and became the commune of Bois-Colombes (literally "Colombes Woods"). On 2 May 1910, 19% of the (reduced) territory of Colombes was detached and became the commune of La Garenne-Colombes. Thus, the commune of Colombes is now only two-thirds the size of its territory before 1896. The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Colombes proper, in its geography at the given years.

Population

Geography

Climate

Colombes has a

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

(

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 ...

''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Colombes 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 Colombes was on 6 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 17 January 1985.

Administration

The city is divided into two cantons: * Colombes-1 (north) * Colombes-2 (south)

Transport

Colombes is served by four stations on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line at Colombes, Le Stade, La Garenne-Colombes and Gare Les Vallées.

Education

The commune has 21 preschools and 19 elementary schools. Secondary schools: * Junior high schools: Robert Paparemborde, Marguerite Duras, Gay Lussac, Moulin Joly, Jean-Baptiste Clément, LakanalÉtablissements d'enseignement publics sécondaires (collèges)
" Académie de Versailles. Retrieved on September 7, 2016.Collège Robert Paparemborde
"

French Ministry of Education French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Fran ...

. Retrieved on September 7, 2016.--> * Senior high schools: Lycée Guy de Maupassant, Lycee Polyvalent Claude Garamont, Lycee Polyvalent Anatole de France

Personalities

Quilapayún Quilapayún () are a folk music group from Chile and among the longest lasting and most influential ambassadors of the '' Nueva Canción Chilena'' movement and genre. Formed during the mid-1960s, the group became inseparable with the revolution t ...

, Chilean music group forced into exile in France after the 1973 Coup. They settled in Colombes. * Jordan Aboudou, basketball player * Lens Aboudou, basketball player * Josue Albert, footballer * Bryan Alceus, footballer *

Mame-Ibra Anne Mame-Ibra Anne (born 7 November 1989 in Colombes) is a French sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. He won the bronze medal at the 2013 Mediterranean Games The 2013 Mediterranean Games ( tr, 2013 Akdeniz Oyunları), officially known as ...

, athlete * Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, footballer * Kelly Berville, footballer *

Zoumana Camara Zoumana Camara (born 3 April 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is the manager of Paris Saint-Germain U19. After starting out at Saint-Étienne, he went on to amass Ligue 1 totals of 344 matches and ...

, footballer *

Pierre Clayette Pierre Clayette (24 March 1930–18 December 2005) was a French people, French Painting, painter, Etching, etcher and Lithography, lithographer, illustrator and Scenography, scenographer. Active for five decades, much of his work was archite ...

, artist * Mathieu Cossou, karateka * Simone Jorry, deaf/hoh rights activist *

Marie-Antoinette Katoto Marie-Antoinette Oda Katoto () (born 1 November 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Division 1 Féminine club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. A youth academy graduate of Paris Saint-Germain, s ...

, footballer *

Claude Mérelle Claude Mérelle (born Lise Henriette Marie Laurent; 17 May 1888 – 16 December 1976) was a French stage and film actress who appeared in numerous films during the silent film era of the early 1910s through the late 1920s. Career Claude Mérell ...

, actress * Eliaquim Mangala, footballer * Samuel Nadeau, basketball player * Alexandre Postel (born 1982), writer *

Steven Nzonzi Steven Nkemboanza Mike Christopher Nzonzi (born 15 December 1988) is a French professional footballer who is currently a free agent Nzonzi began his career with Ligue 2 side Amiens, impressing enough to earn a move to Premier League side Blackb ...

, footballer * Kevin Thalien, basketball player * Elodie Thomis, footballer * Axel Tony, singer *

Jonathan Toto Jonathan Toto (born 30 March 1990) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. An Metz youth product, Toto began his senior career in Cameroon with Canon Yaoundé before moving to Italy to sign for Legnano. He moved to ...

, footballer * Eddy Viator, footballer * Rama Yade, politician, moved into a council flat in Colombes with her mother and three sisters at the age of fourteen.Rama Yade: The political star who's eclipsing Sarko
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 14 April 2009 * pierpoljak, reggae singer

Sport

The stadium was built in 1907. Officially named the

Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir The Stade Yves-du-Manoir (officially Stade olympique Yves-du-Manoir, also known as the Stade olympique de Colombes, or simply Colombes to the locals) is a rugby, track and association football stadium in Colombes, near Paris, France. History ...

, the Olympic Stadium of Colombes was the site of the opening ceremony and several events of the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The o ...

. The arena's capacity was increased to 60,000 for the 1938 World Cup. The stadium lost its importance after the restoration in 1972 of Paris' 49,000-seat

Parc des Princes Parc des Princes () is an all-seater football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin and Stade Roland Garros. The stadium, with a seating capacity of 47 ...

. In the 1990s, three of the four grandstands were torn down due to decay and the stadium's capacity was down to 7,000; later renovations have brought the current capacity to 14,000. Through November 2017, it had been home to the

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name ...

rugby club, currently playing in France's

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

, but Racing has since moved to the new

U Arena U or u, is the twenty-first and sixth-to-last letter and fifth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''u'' (pro ...

in Nanterre. The

RCF Paris Racing Club de France Football (, also known as Racing Paris, RCF Paris, Matra Racing, Racing Club, or Racing) is a French association football club based in Colombes, a suburb of Paris. Racing was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline spor ...

football club, which plays in the fourth division, remains at Yves-du-Manoir. The stadium will be the field hockey venue at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Twin towns

* Frankenthal,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

References

External links

Official website
*
Colombes in postal card
(Colombes philatelic society) *

'' Chariots of Fire'' stadium reprieved {{Authority control Communes of Hauts-de-Seine Cities in Île-de-France