Argenteuil () is a commune in the northwestern 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. It is located from the center of Paris. Argenteuil is a sub-prefecture of the

Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.< ...

department, the seat of the arrondissement of Argenteuil. Argenteuil is part of 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 ...

. Argenteuil is the fourth most populous commune in the suburbs 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 ...

, Saint-Denis, and Montreuil) and the most populous one in the Val-d'Oise department, although it is not its prefecture, which is shared between the communes of Cergy and

Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune north of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official (capital) of the Val-d'Oise '' département'', although in reality the ' ...

. Argenteuil shares borders with communes in 3 departements others than ''Val d'Oise'' : the

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...

, and

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 ...

departements.

Name

The name Argenteuil is recorded for the first time in a royal

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

of 697 as ''Argentoialum'', from a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Gaulish Gaulish is an extinct Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, ...

root ''argento'' meaning "silver", "silvery", "shiny", perhaps in reference to the gleaming surface of the river

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 ...

, on the banks of which Argenteuil is located, and from a

Gaulish language Gaulish is an extinct Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerl ...

suffix ''-ialo'' meaning "clearing, glade" or "place of".

History

Argenteuil was founded as a

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

in the 7th century (see Pierre Abélard and the Convent of Argenteuil). The

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 ...

that arose from the convent was later destroyed during the French Revolution. A rural escape for Parisians, it is now a suburb of Paris. Painters made Argenteuil famous, including

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( ; ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French people, French Romanticism, Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: ...

, Auguste Renoir, Gustave Caillebotte,

Alfred Sisley Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedic ...

and

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

. The Hotel de Ville was completed in 1994.

Transport

Argenteuil is served by two stations on the

Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare is one of the sectors in the Paris Transilien suburban rail network. The trains on this sector depart from Gare Saint-Lazare in central Paris and serve the north and north-west of Île-de-France region with Transilien ...

suburban rail line, which are

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...

and Val d'Argenteuil. Since redeveloped by STIF and SNCF, Argenteuil has been equipped with the new Paris-Saint-Lazare-Ermont-Eaubonne line. The new line was launched in 2006, adding the Paris-Saint Lazare / Cormeilles-en-Parisis - Pontoise / Mantes-la-Jolie service to Paris for about ten minutes. By Bus* : 361 Gare d'Argenteuil à Gare de Pierrefitte - Stains RER; 140 Gare d'Argenteuil - Asnières-Gennevilliers - Gabriel Péri; 164 Argenteuil - Claude Monet College - Porte de Champerret; By train* : Gare d'Argenteuil (SNCF-J): Paris Saint-Lazare in 15 minutes and Colombes in 4 minutes Gare Saint-Gratien (T-8): Porte Maillot in 22 minutes Épinay Orgemont (T-8): Gare Saint-Denis in 20 minutes Travel by car: City centre: 10 minutes; Paris Saint-Lazare: 25 minutes La Défense: 20 minutes; Colombes: 10 minutes; la Plaine-Saint-Denis: 18 minutes; Porte de Clichy: 15 minutes;

Education

, the commune's schools have over 12,000 students. The commune has:établissements scolaires
." Argenteuil. Retrieved on 6 September 2016. "Plus de 12 000 élèves prennent le chemin de l'école tous les matins." * 30 public preschools (''maternelles'') and one private elementary school with a preschool * 26 public and 2 private elementary schools * 11 junior high schools (''collèges'') - 10 public and 1 private * 6 senior high schools/sixth-form colleges: **

Lycée Georges Braque In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

** Lycée Cognacq-Jay ** Lycée Julie-Victoire Daubié ** Lycée Jean Jaurès **

Lycée Fernand et Nadia Léger In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

** Ecole nationale des professions de l'automobile (private) Paris 13 University serves as the area university. The Conservatoire à rayonnement départemental de Musique, Danse et Théâtre is located in Argenteuil. André Bon is one of its former students.

Population

Immigration

Twin towns – sister cities

Argenteuil is twinned with: * Alessandria, Italy * Dessau-Roßlau, Germany *

Hunedoara Hunedoara (; ; ) is a municipiu, city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in southwestern Transylvania near the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, and administers five villages: Boș (''Bós''), Groș (''Grós''), Hășdat (''Hosdát ...

, Romania * West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, United Kingdom * Fátima, Portugal

Notable people

* Héloïse (/01 – 1163/64), nun, philosopher and writer * Charles Longuet (1839–1903), journalist and socialist activist *

(1840–1926), painter, lived and worked here in 1871–1878 *

(1882–1963), painter, sculptor and co-founder of

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

* Sidney Duteil (born 1955), musician and television host * Ingrid Chauvin (born 1971), actress * Thomas Henry (born 1994), professional footballer * Florent Mothe (born 1981), singer and actor * Franck Béria (born 1983), retired professional footballer and functionary * Ibrahim Gary (born 1985), karateka * Fabien Ateba (born 1991), basketball player * Kevin Mayer (born 1992), athlete, Olympic medalist * Cécile Pelous, philanthropist and designer * Laurina Fazer (born 2003), footballer for

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 ...

Famous paintings of Argenteuil

* By Claude Monet: ''Autumn at Argenteuil'', ''Regatta at Argenteuil'', ''Red Boats, Argenteuil'', ''The Bridge at Argenteuil'', ''The Port at Argenteuil'', '' The Seine at Argenteuil'', ''View of Argenteuil-Snow'', '' Bords de la Seine a Argenteuil'', and ''Snow at Argenteuil''. And ''Train in snow at Argenteuil''. * By other painters: ''

'' and ''Seine near Argenteuil'' by

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism (art movement), R ...

, ''Regatta at Argenteuil'' by

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French people, French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionism, Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially femininity, fe ...

, and ''The Bridge in Argenteuil'' by Gustave Caillebotte.

Gallery

Claude Monet - The Seine at Argenteuil 1873.jpg, Claude Monet, '' The Seine at Argenteuil'', 1873 Pierre-Auguste Renoir 083.jpg, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, '' Claude Monet Painting in His Garden at Argenteuil'', 1873 Edouard Manet 058.jpg, Édouard Manet, ''The Seine near Argenteuil'', 1874 La Seine à Argenteuil.jpg, Claude Monet, ''The Seine at Argenteuil'', 1874 Manet, Edouard - Argenteuil, 1875.jpg, Édouard Manet, ''Argenteuil'', 1875 Bords de la Seine a Argenteuil - Monet.jpg, Claude Monet, '' Bords de la Seine à Argenteuil'', 1875

References

External links

Official website

Official facebook

Association of Mayors of the Val d'Oise
{{authority control Communes of Val-d'Oise Cities in Île-de-France Subprefectures in France Cities in France