Brétigny-sur-Orge (, literally ''Brétigny on

Orge The Orge () is a long river in France, left tributary of the Seine. Its source is in the village Saint-Martin-de-Bréthencourt. Its course crosses the '' départements'' of Yvelines and Essonne. It flows northwest through the towns of Dourdan, ...

'') is a commune in the southern suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, from the city center.

Origin of the city name

The name of the settlement is attested as ''Britiniacum'' in 1146, as ''Bretigniacum'' in 1548, and subsequently as Breteigny. The origins of ''Brétigny'' start in the era of

Roman Gaul Roman Gaul refers to GaulThe territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacent parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century B ...

. The etymology comes from the Latin ''britiniacum'', which means "property of the Breton". The name certifies that this territory was during that period dedicated to a Breton, coming from (Great) Britain, during the period of Briton migration (6th century). Brétigny afterwards belonged to the royal estate of the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

kings (from the 5th century until the 8th century). At the time of the creation of the commune, the city name was spelled without any accent. This accent was added in 1801, and the name of the river ("on

") was added in 1898.

Geography

Climate

Brétigny-sur-Orge has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Brétigny-sur-Orge is . The average annual rainfall is with December 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 Brétigny-sur-Orge was on 25 July 2019; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 16 January 1985.

Transport

It is served by Brétigny station on Paris

RER line C RER C is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris and its suburbs. The line crosses the region from north to south. Briefly, betwee ...

. On 12 July 2013 an intercity train derailed shortly after 17.00, killing 7 people.

People

Inhabitants of Brétigny-sur-Orge are known as ''Brétignolais''.

Notable residents

* Cédric Collet, footballer, was born in Brétigny. He has played for the

Guadeloupe national football team The Guadeloupe national football team () represents the French overseas department and region of Guadeloupe in men's international football. The team is controlled by the Ligue guadeloupéenne de football (), a local branch of the FFF. As an ...

. * Cédric Baseya, footballer, was born in Brétigny. He has played for

Le Havre AC Le Havre Athletic Club () is a French professional association football club based in Le Havre, Normandy. The football club was founded in 1894 as a section of the sports club of the same name, founded in 1884. Le Havre plays in Ligue 1, the ...

and some English clubs, but is now a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. * Antoine-Gaspard Boucher d'Argis, (1708-1791), lawyer and encyclopedist, lived in Brétigny in the Castle of la Fontaine. * Jean de Boishue (1943- ), politician. He was mayor of Brétigny. * Patrice Évra, football player, played for CS Brétigny from 1993 to 1997. * Jérémy Ménez, football player, played for CS Brétigny from 2000 to 2001.

References

External links

Official website
*
Mayors of Essonne Association
Communes of Essonne {{Essonne-geo-stub