Créteil
Creteil prefecture.JPG
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 or 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 / 48.7911°N 2.4628°E / 48.7911; 2.4628

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[link]

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[link]

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[link]

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[link]

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[link]

Immigration[link]

Health[link]

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[link]

Créteil is served by four stations on Paris Métro Line 8: Créteil – L'Échat, Créteil – Université, Créteil – Préfecture and the newly opened Pointe du Lac.

Sport[link]

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[link]

• Bertrand Amoussou-Guenou, mixed martial artist
• Jacques Barzun, author, historian
• Stephane Caristan, athlete
• Bruno Coqueran, basketball player
• Mohamed Diamé, footballer
• Herve Ebanda, footballer
• Sylviane Félix, athlete
• Lina Jacques-Sebastien, athlete
• Azrack Mahamat, footballer
• Axel Médéric, figure skater
• Modibo Niakate, basketball player
• Marc Raquil, athlete
• Christopher Samba, footballer
• Richard Soumah, footballer
• Sammy Traoré, footballer

Twin towns[link]

Créteil is twinned with:

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

See also[link]

• Communes of the Val-de-Marne department

References[link]

• INSEE
• Mayors of Essonne Association (French)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Créteil

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

v t e  Communes in the Metropolitan Area of Paris Population over 2 million City of Paris Population over 100,000 Argenteuil Boulogne-Billancourt Montreuil Saint-Denis Population over 75,000 Asnières-sur-Seine Aulnay-sous-Bois Champigny-sur-Marne Colombes Courbevoie Créteil Nanterre Rueil-Malmaison Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Versailles Vitry-sur-Seine Population over 50,000 Antony Aubervilliers Le Blanc-Mesnil Bondy Cergy Chelles Clamart Clichy Drancy Épinay-sur-Seine Évry Fontenay-sous-Bois Issy-les-Moulineaux Ivry-sur-Seine Levallois-Perret Maisons-Alfort Neuilly-sur-Seine Noisy-le-Grand Pantin Sarcelles Sartrouville Sevran Villejuif Population over 25,000 Alfortville Athis-Mons Bagneux Bagnolet Bezons Bobigny Bois-Colombes Brunoy Cachan Charenton-le-Pont Châtenay-Malabry Châtillon Chatou Le Chesnay Choisy-le-Roi Clichy-sous-Bois Conflans-Sainte-Honorine Corbeil-Essonnes La Courneuve Draveil Élancourt Ermont Franconville Fresnes Gagny La Garenne-Colombes Garges-lès-Gonesse Gennevilliers Gonesse Goussainville Grigny Guyancourt L'Haÿ-les-Roses Herblay Houilles Le Kremlin-Bicêtre Livry-Gargan Malakoff Mantes-la-Jolie Massy Meaux Melun Meudon Montigny-le-Bretonneux Montrouge Les Mureaux Neuilly-sur-Marne Nogent-sur-Marne Noisy-le-Sec Palaiseau Le Perreux-sur-Marne Pierrefitte-sur-Seine Plaisir Poissy Pontault-Combault Pontoise Puteaux Rambouillet Ris-Orangis Romainville Rosny-sous-Bois Saint-Cloud Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Ouen Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Sannois Savigny-sur-Orge Savigny-le-Temple Stains Sucy-en-Brie Suresnes Taverny Thiais Trappes Tremblay-en-France Vanves Vigneux-sur-Seine Villemomble Villeneuve-Saint-Georges Villepinte Villiers-le-Bel Villiers-sur-Marne Vincennes Viry-Châtillon Yerres Population under 25,000 1,460 other communes

v t e Communes of the Val-de-Marne department Ablon-sur-Seine Alfortville Arcueil Boissy-Saint-Léger Bonneuil-sur-Marne Bry-sur-Marne Cachan Champigny-sur-Marne Charenton-le-Pont Chennevières-sur-Marne Chevilly-Larue Choisy-le-Roi Créteil Fontenay-sous-Bois Fresnes Gentilly L'Haÿ-les-Roses Ivry-sur-Seine Joinville-le-Pont Le Kremlin-Bicêtre Limeil-Brévannes Maisons-Alfort Mandres-les-Roses Marolles-en-Brie Nogent-sur-Marne Noiseau Orly Ormesson-sur-Marne Périgny Le Perreux-sur-Marne Le Plessis-Trévise La Queue-en-Brie Rungis Saint-Mandé Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Saint-Maurice Santeny Sucy-en-Brie Thiais Valenton Villecresnes Villejuif Villeneuve-le-Roi Villeneuve-Saint-Georges Villiers-sur-Marne Vincennes Vitry-sur-Seine