Écully () is a suburban commune in the

Metropolis of Lyon The Metropolis of Lyon (, ), also known as Grand Lyon (, "Greater Lyon"), is a French territorial collectivity in the east-central region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a directly-elected metropolitan authority, encompassing both the city of L ...

in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

, central-eastern France. It is a northwestern suburb of

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, bordering its 9th arrondissement. In 2021, it had a population of 18,361.

Geography

Écully is at 6 km of Lyon's city centre. It offers a privileged lifestyle in the relative countryside just a few minutes from the centre of the second-largest metropolitan area in France.

Transport

The city is served by the ''

Transports en commun lyonnais The Transports en commun lyonnais (, "Lyon public transport" in French; usually referred to as TCL) is the Lyon public transport agency. It is the second largest public transport system in France (after Paris), and covers 72 communes, including ...

'' (TCL).

Name

Écully was originally covered with a forest of oaks "''Aesculus"'' in Latin, the name changed over the millennia into Esculiacus, Excolliacus, Escullieu, Escully, Ecuilly, and finally, Écully.

History

The circumstances and date of foundation of the city are lost in the mists of time. The site has been settled by humans since the Stone Age, burial pits as well as several polished stone axes, pottery debris, and a hollowed out stone in the form of a basin or mortar were found in 1860 during excavations. In the early days of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

the development of the Roman colony and capital of

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

Lugdunum Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Colonia (Roman), Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon, France, Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but cont ...

(which later became the city of Lyon) required the construction of major roads leading to other cities in Gaul. Built by

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (; BC – 12 BC) was a Roman general, statesman and architect who was a close friend, son-in-law and lieutenant to the Roman emperor Augustus. Agrippa is well known for his important military victories, notably the B ...

(son-in-law, and lieutenant to the first Roman emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

) two of these roads pass through Écully. The Roman colony also needed a massive water supply. The aqueducts that brought it from the Mont d'Or and the Brevenne river, crossed Écully. The name of the town appears for the first time in 980 AD in a document of a

cartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll ('' rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

of the

Savigny Abbey Savigny Abbey (''Abbaye de Savigny'') was a monastery near the village of Savigny-le-Vieux (Manche), in northern France. It was founded early in the 12th century. Initially it was the central house of the Congregation of Savigny, who were Benedi ...

. Écully benefited from the economic development of Lyon. Rich merchants, aldermen, and notables bought the land and built beautiful houses, attracted in particular by a favorable tax system, obtained in 1485 and confirmed by Henri IV in 1594: the exemption from the ''taille'' direct land

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

. Some of the city's oldest remaining families settled in the city during this time.

Population

Administration

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

is composed of 33 members elected for a six-year term. The mayor is elected by the councillors.

Leading institutions of higher education

It is the location of the

Paul Bocuse Paul François Pierre Bocuse (; 11 February 1926 – 20 January 2018) was a French chef based in Lyon known for the quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to cuisine. Dubbed "the pope of gastronomy", he was affectionately nick ...

Institute, which is partially situated inside the Château du Vivier. It is also the location of many higher education institutions, including

EMLYON Business School EM Lyon Business School (styled emlyon) is a business school in Lyon, France, established in 1872, and affiliated with the Lyon Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A '' grande école de commerce'', EM Lyon Business School offers a range of academi ...

École centrale de Lyon The Centrale Lyon (), formerly (, abbr. ECL), is a research university in Grand Lyon, greater Lyon, France. Founded in 1857 by François Barthélemy Arlès-Dufour in response to the increasing industrialization of France, it is one of the oldes ...

and French National Forensic Institute.

Health

Écully has two clinics: the ''Val d'Ouest'' and ''Mon repos''.

Sports

The city has a municipal swimming pool, several gyms, a bowling alley, a multipurpose room, a tennis court, a football and a rugby field.

Businesses

The city is the seat of the

Groupe SEB SEB S.A. or better known as Groupe SEB (''Société d'Emboutissage de Bourgogne'') is a large French consortium that produces small appliances, and it is the world's largest manufacturer of cookware. Notable brand names associated with Groupe SE ...

(the world leader in

small appliance A small domestic appliance, also known as a small electric appliance or minor appliance or simply a small appliance, small domestic or small electric, is a portable or semi-portable machine, generally used on table-tops, counter-tops or oth ...

People

The botanist

Antoine Cariot Antoine Cariot (1820 in Écully – 22 February 1883 in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon (, literally ''Sainte-Foy near Lyon'') is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Geography It is ...

(1820–1883) was born in Écully.

Alexis Jandard Alexis Jandard (born 23 April 1997) is a French diver. He represented France at the World Aquatics Championships in 2015 and in 2019. He represented France at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan in the men's 3 metre springboard event. In ...

, a springboard athlete, was also born there in 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecully Communes of Lyon Metropolis Lyonnais