Montreuil (), also known unofficially as Montreuil-sous-Bois (), is a commune in the eastern 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 ...

. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the

Seine-Saint-Denis () is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobi ...

department and in the

Métropole du Grand Paris A (; French for "metropolis") is an administrative entity in France, in which several communes in France, communes cooperate, and which has the right to Taxation in France, levy local tax, an ''établissement public de coopération intercommunal ...

. With a population of 111,367 as of 2020, Montreuil is the third most populous suburb of Paris after

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious Communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris ...

and Saint-Denis. It is located north of Paris's Bois de Vincennes (in the 12th arrondissement), on the border with

Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a ...

Name

The name Montreuil was recorded for the first time in a royal edict of 722 as , meaning "little

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

" in

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

. The settlement of Montreuil started as a group of houses built around a small

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 ...

monastery.

History

A small monastery was recorded on the site during the

period on a hill that overlooked

Vincennes Vincennes (; ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Vincennes is famous for its castle: the Château de Vincennes. It is next to but does not include the ...

, which is most likely where Montreuil gained its name. Under the reigns of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

and

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

the "Peach Walls" which provided the royal court with the fruits were located in Montreuil. It was also later home to the

Lumière brothers Lumière is French for 'light'. Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to: Buildings * Lumière, a building used by the Bibliothèque publique d'information in Paris, France * Lumiere (skyscraper), a cancelled skyscraper development in Leeds, ...

and George 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 Saint-Mandé (; named for Saint Maudez) is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, department in Île-de-France, in the high-end eastern inner suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero, cent ...

), 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 Romainville () is a commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, located in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. Location It is located from the center of Paris. History On 24 July 1867, a part of the territory of Romainville was detached ...

, Noisy-le-Sec, Rosny-sous-Bois and

Fontenay-sous-Bois Fontenay-sous-Bois () is a Communes of France, commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Name The name Fontenay was recorded in the Middle Ages as ''Fontanetum'', meaning "the spring ...

Main artistic heritage

* Decorations (ceramics and frescoes) in the state school "

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

" 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 Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès ( , ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French magic (illusion), magician, toymaker, actor, and filmmaker. He led many technical and narrative developments in the early days of film, cinema, primarily in th ...

student residence by Guillaume Bottazzi.

Heraldry

Geography

Climate

Montreuil 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 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 Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

", or sometimes "Mali-sous-Bois" or "Bamako-sur-Seine" even though 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 plat ...

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'', which estimates that Montreuil has the largest Malian community in France. 10% of the population is Malian or has Malian origins.

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). Montreuil streets

The city is divided into two cantons: canton of Montreuil-1 and canton of Montreuil-2.

Economy

Video game company

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

has its corporate head office in Montreuil. The

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

Paris office (of Air France-KLM) is in Montreuil.

Education

The commune's educational services are operated out of the Opale B Administrative Building. Montreuil has eight ''collèges'', three ''lycées'', two ''lycées techniques'', and the IUT of the University of Paris 8. 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 Lycée Condorcet () is a secondary school in Paris, France, located at 8, rue du Havre, in the city's 9th arrondissement. Founded in 1803, it is one of the four oldest high schools in Paris and also one of the most prestigious. Since its inc ...

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. 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. Daniel-Renoult, near Montreau Park, serves the Montreau-Ruffins Théophile Sueur community. Colonel-Fabien, in the Ramenas-Fabien-Léo Lagrange community, is near the Intercommunal Hospital. Paul-Eluard is near the La Grande Porte shopping centre and is within of the

Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre fer ...

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...

station and Rue de Paris.

Notable residents and personalities

Djamel Abdoun Djamel Abdoun (born 14 February 1986) is an Algerian retired professional footballer who played as a winger. In the summer of 2011, Abdoun signed a three-year contract with Olympiacos, on a free transfer from Kavala, due to their relegation ...

, Algerian footballer who played at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

* Mehdi Abeid, Algerian footballer * Nicolas Aithadi, Visual Effects, Guardians of the Galaxy * Jean-Claude Andruet, rally driver * Oumar Bakari, footballer * Vicki Bècho, footballer for

* Rosette Bir, sculptor * Sacha Boey, footballer * Élodie Bouchez, actress *

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world ...

, singer/songwriter/actor * Souarata Cisse, basketball player * Olivier Dacourt, footballer * Henri Decaë, cinematographer *

Jean Delannoy Jean Delannoy (; 12 January 1908 – 18 June 2008) was a French actor, film editor, screenwriter and film director. Biography Although Delannoy was born in a Paris suburb, his family was from Haute-Normandie in the north of France. He was a Pro ...

, 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 Les Négresses Vertes ("The Green Negresses"), formed in 1987, is a French music group that combines world music and some aspects of alternative rock. Tracks often feature steel-string acoustic guitar, acoustic guitar and accordion, with some c ...

* William Mallet, perpetrator of the 2022 Paris shooting * Ethan Mbappé, footballer * Pierre de Montreuil, 13th century

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, died in 1267 in Paris * Nordi Mukiele, footballer * Sikou Niakate, footballer * Elisha Owusu, footballer *

Émile Reynaud Charles-Émile Reynaud (8 December 1844 – 9 January 1918) was a French inventor, responsible for the praxinoscope (an animation device patented in 1877 that improved on the zoetrope) and was responsible for the first projected animated fil ...

, director * Mamadou Samassa, footballer *

Gaston-Auguste Schweitzer Gaston-Auguste Schweitzer (born in Montreuil-sous-Bois on 1 September 1879; died in Paris in 1962) was a French sculptor. Brief biography His father was from Alsace. He studied at the Paris École des Beaux-Arts under Alexandre Falguière, Anto ...

, sculptor * Abel Thermeus, footballer * Tignous, cartoonist and activist killed in the

Charlie Hebdo shooting On 7 January 2015, at about 11:30 a.m. in Paris, Paris, France, the employees of the French satirical weekly magazine ''Charlie Hebdo'' were targeted in a terrorist shooting attack by two French-born Islam in Algeria, Algerian Muslim bro ...

* Frédéric Verger, writer * Warren Zaïre-Emery, footballer

Transport

Montreuil is served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 9:

, 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 Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, Germany and a few other towns and cities of Africa, Asia and Europe.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Communes of Seine-Saint-Denis Cities in Île-de-France Cities in France