Créteil

Créteil
Val-de-Marne prefecture building by the lake
Créteil
Paris and inner ring departments
Location within Île-de-France region  Créteil
Administration
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Val-de-Marne
Arrondissement	Créteil
Intercommunality	Plaine Centrale du Val-de-Marne
Mayor	Laurent Cathala
Statistics
Elevation	31–74 m (102–243 ft) (avg. 63 m/207 ft)
Land area1	11.43 km2 (4.41 sq mi)
Population2	90,197  (2006)
- Density	7,891 /km2 (20,440 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	94028/ 94000
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Coordinates: 48°47′28″N 2°27′46″E / 48.791111°N 2.462778°E / 48.791111; 2.462778

Church of Saint-Christophe, in the commune of Créteil.

Créteil (French pronunciation: [kʁe.tɛj]) is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 11.5 km (7.1 mi) from the center of Paris. Créteil is the préfecture (capital) of the Val-de-Marne department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Créteil. The city is, moreover, the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese (bishopric) and of one of France's 30 nationwide académies (districts) of the Ministry of National Education.

Name

The name Créteil was recorded for the first time as Cristoïlum in the martyrology written by a monk named Usuard in 865. The name Cristoïlum is made of the Celtic word ialo (meaning "clearing, glade", "place of") suffixed to a pre-Latin radical crist- whose meaning is still unclear. Some believe crist is a Celtic word meaning "ridge", a cognate of Latin crista and modern French crête, in which case the meaning of Cristoïlum would be "clearing on the ridge" or "place on the ridge." A more traditional etymology was that crist referred to Jesus Christ, due to the very ancient presence of Christianity in Créteil and the veneration of Saint Agoard and Saint Aglibert, martyred in Créteil around AD 400.

Geography

Créteil is a city in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris. It is watered by the Marne river which carries out its last loop before the junction with the Seine at the Charenton-le-Pont. The area is an alluvial plain eroded by the action of the Marne and the Seine. Bordering communes include Maisons-Alfort, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Bonneuil-sur-Marne, Limeil-Brévannes, Valenton, Choisy-le-Roi and Alfortville.

History

Some rare flints from the Palaeolithic age are still being found in modern times in the area. It is, however, a two-ton, Neolithic-era polishing machine that is the prehistoric pride of Créteil. The first documents referring to Créteil are from the Merovingian era, when it was known as Vicus Cristolium' The name comes from the prefix crist and olium. These two terms are thought to be Gallic: "clearing" for olium and "ridge" for crist. The "clearing" of the "ridge" of the Mont-Mesly is on the road connecting Paris and Sens (Trunk Road 19 today). In 1406, the place name "Créteil" makes its appearance after successive deformations from Cristoill (1278), Cristeuil, Cresteul then Creteuil.

During the French Wars of Religion (1567), the Huguenots plundered the church and burned the local charters. New disorders in 1648 forced the evacuation of the inhabitants of Créteil. The end of Louis XIV's reign was marked by a great food shortage throughout the whole of France after a terrible winter in 1709 that resulted in 69 recorded deaths in Créteil. Registers of grievances from the French Revolution in 1789 mention Créteil 15 times.

At the beginning of the 18th century, construction of the first middle-class "Parisian" houses began. In 1814, the east of Créteil was taken by Russian troops. The bridge which spans the Marne between Creteil and Saint-Maur-des-Fossés was inaugurated on 9 April 1841, replacing an ancient ferry.

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 was particularly cruel for Créteil. The borough was plundered and left in ruins by the Prussians, while the nearby battle of Mont-Mesly on 30 November 1870, left 179 dead. Créteil gave up its pastoral character after World War II. The population subsequently rose from 13,800 in 1954 to 30,654 in 1962.

In 1965, the city became a Préfecture of the new department of the Val-de-Marne.

The lake

Créteil Lake began as a gypsum and gravel quarry. Once the groundwater was reached, forming deep ponds, the quarry was abandoned and allowed to fill with water. The lake area is now a popular recreational site attracting fishermen, boaters, wind surfers, etc...

Demographics

Immigration

Place of birth of residents of Créteil in 1999 Born in Metropolitan France Born outside Metropolitan France 73.6% 26.4% Born in Overseas France Born in foreign countries with French citizenship at birth¹ EU-15 immigrants² Non-EU-15 immigrants 3.9% 4.8% 2.2% 15.5% ¹This group is made up largely of pieds-noirs from Northwest 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), and to a lesser extent foreign-born children of French expatriates. Note that a foreign country is understood as a country not part of France as of 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. ²An immigrant is a person born in a foreign country not having French citizenship at birth. Note that 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.

Health

As of 1 January 2006, 27 pharmacies, about 60 dentists, about 60 general practitioners, 10 pediatricians, and a half-dozen ophthalmologists and dermatologists constitute the general medical staff of the city.

Health facilities include:

• CHU Henri Mondor, a publicly owned hospital inaugurated on 2 December 1969. Conceived initially for 1,300 beds, its capacity today is 958 beds. It employs more than 3,000 people including more than 2,600 looking after patients. Its expenditure in 2004 was 241M€.
• Centre hospitalier intercommunal de Créteil, inaugurated on 3 November 1937. Capacity of reception of 530 in-patients as against 264 in 1937. The construction of this establishment was decided in 1932 by grouping the communes of the Bonneuil-sur-Marne, Creteil and Joinville-le-Pont within an inter-communal syndicate. Saint-Maur-des-Fossés joined this syndicate later. Originally, a number of the hospital personnel were religious sisters. In 2004, 38,037 hospitalizations were listed, with 2,551 childbirths and 12,838 surgical interventions. ] It employs approximately 2,000 people with about 1,600 of them caring for patients in medical or other capacities.
• Centre de Transfusion sanguine. The Blood Transfusion Center of Creteil is run by the inter-communal Hospital. This service treats from 600 to 1,000 requests per day.
• Albert Chenevier Hospital. A publicly owned hospital, with a 463-bed capacity. There are 118 beds in the psychiatric ward.

Transport

Créteil is served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 8: Créteil – L'Échat, Créteil – Université and Créteil – Préfecture.

Sport

US Créteil-Lusitanos, founded in 1936, is the city's football club. They currently play in the Championnat National of the French League and their home stadium is Stade Dominique Duvauchelle.

Personalities

• Stephane Caristan, athlete
• Bruno Coqueran, basketball player
• Mohamed Diamé, footballer
• Sylviane Félix, athlete
• Lina Jacques-Sebastien, athlete
• Azrack Mahamat, footballer
• Axel Médéric, figure skater
• Marc Raquil, athlete
• Richard Soumah, footballer
• Sammy Traore, footballer
• Christopher Samba, footballer

Twin towns

Créteil is twinned with:

• Falkirk, United Kingdom
• Kiryat Yam, Israel
• Mataró, Spain

See also

• Communes of the Val-de-Marne department

References

• INSEE
• Mayors of Essonne Association (French)

External links

• Official website
• Paris XII- Val-de-Marne University located in Créteil