The name Montreuil was recorded for the first time in a royal edict of 722 asMonasteriolum, meaning "littlemonastery" inMedieval Latin. The settlement of Montreuil started as a group of houses built around a smallMerovingian monastery.
A small monastery was recorded on the site during theMerovingian period on a hill that overlookedVincennes, which is most likely where Montreuil gained its name.[3]
Under the reigns ofLouis XIV andLouis XVI the "Peach Walls" which provided the royal court with the fruits were located in Montreuil. It was also later home to theLumière brothers andGeorge 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 ofCharonne was disbanded and divided between the city of Paris, Montreuil, andBagnolet. 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 onSaint-Mandé), themarché aux puces (bordering on Paris, carries of Montreuil),
Decorations (ceramics and frescoes) in the state school "Voltaire" byMaurice 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.[4]
The herald arms of Montreuil is coloured as follows:
Azur-coloured base, one gold-coloured chevron between three golden peach branches, and in center top a golden Fleur-de-lis . or Azure, a Chevron Or between three Peach branches Or fructed and in centre chief point a Fleur-de-lis Or.
Montreuil has anoceanic climate (Köppen climate classificationCfb). The average annual temperature in Montreuil is 12.0 °C (53.6 °F). The average annual rainfall is 669.9 mm (26.37 in) with May as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 20.2 °C (68.4 °F), and lowest in January, at around 4.6 °C (40.3 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Montreuil was 40.0 °C (104.0 °F) on 25 July 2019 and 12 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −17.7 °C (0.1 °F) on 17 January 1985.
Climate data for Montreuil (1981−2010 normals, extremes 1981−present)
1 This group is made up largely of former French settlers, such aspieds-noirs inNorthwest Africa, followed by former colonial citizens who had French citizenship at birth (such as was often the case for the native elite in French colonies), as well as to a lesser extent foreign-born children of French expatriates. A foreign country is understood as a country not part of France in 1999, so a person born for example in 1950 in Algeria, when Algeria was an integral part of France, is nonetheless listed as a person born in a foreign country in French statistics.
2 An immigrant is a person born in a foreign country not having French citizenship at birth. An immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still considered an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants.
Montreuil's inhabitants often exaggeratedly nickname the town the "second Malian town afterBamako", or sometimes "Mali-sous-Bois"[10] or "Bamako-sur-Seine" even though theSeine does not cross the town. Montreuil has indeed a very important Malian population: more than 2,000 inhabitants according to theINSEE in 1999, between 6,000 and 10,000 people according to themairie,[11] which estimates that Montreuil has the largest Malian community in France.[10] 10% of the population is Malian or has Malian origins.[12]
The mayor of Montreuil is the member ofParti communiste françaisPatrice Bessac, who was elected on the second round of2014 municipal elections, defeating the former ex-Communist mayorJean-Pierre Brard in a four-way second round. He was re-elected in the first round of the2020 elections with 51.34% votes, though with 33.67% participation (down from 53.11% in the 2014 election) due to theCOVID-19 crisis (which also caused a delay of the 2nd turn in other cities).
The commune's educational services are operated out of the Opale B Administrative Building.[17] Montreuil has eightcollèges, threelycées, twolycées techniques, and the IUT of theUniversity of Paris 8.[18]
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.[20] 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.[21] Daniel-Renoult, near Montreau Park, serves the Montreau-Ruffins Théophile Sueur community.[22] Colonel-Fabien, in the Ramenas-Fabien-Léo Lagrange community, is near the Intercommunal Hospital.[23] Paul-Eluard is near the La Grande Porte shopping centre and is within 50 metres (160 ft) of theRobespierreParis Métro station and Rue de Paris.[24]
There are several new Métro (Line 11 - Montreuil-Hôpital[25]) and tramway (extension of the T1 tramway[26]) 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).[27]
^"Robert-DesnosArchived 2011-07-20 at theWayback Machine." Montreuil Library. Retrieved on 18 June 2010. "Située dans le parc près de la mairie, la bibliothèque centrale Robert Desnos est la plus grande de la ville. Elle abrite également une discothèque, et des postes d'accès à Internet."
^"Daniel-RenoultArchived 2009-06-28 at theWayback Machine." Montreuil Library. Retrieved on 18 June 2010. "Tout près du Parc Montreau, la bibliothèque Daniel-Renoult irrigue le quartier Montreau Ruffins Théophile Sueur."
^"Colonel-FabienArchived 2011-07-20 at theWayback Machine." Montreuil Library. Retrieved on 18 June 2010. "Au coeur du quartier Ramenas-Fabien- Léo Lagrange, près du Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal,"
^"Paul-EluardArchived 2010-06-03 at theWayback Machine." Montreuil Library. Retrieved on 18 June 2010. "A deux pas du centre commercial La Grande Porte, à 50 m du métro Robespierre et de la rue de Paris."
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