Colombes () 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 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 ...

, from the centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the 53rd largest city in France.

Name

The name Colombes comes from

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 ...

''columna'' (

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th

megalithic A megalith is a large Rock (geology), stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging ...

column used in ancient times by a druidic cult which stood in Colombes until its destruction during the French Revolution">druid">druidic cult which stood in Colombes until its destruction during the

atrium in a ruined Gallo-Roman culture">Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

Roman villa">villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

that also stood in Colombes.

History

During the repression of January and February 1894, the police conducted raids targeting the Anarchism, anarchists living there, without much success. On 13 March 1896, 17% of the territory of Colombes was detached and became the commune of

Bois-Colombes Bois-Colombes () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department, in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. International companies such as Colgate-Palmolive, IBM and Aviva have their French headquart ...

(). On 2 May 1910, 19% of the (reduced) territory of Colombes was detached and became the commune of

La Garenne-Colombes La Garenne-Colombes () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from Notre Dame de Paris, France's kilometre zero. Name The commune used to be part of the neighbouring city of Colombes. At t ...

. Thus, the commune of Colombes is now only two-thirds the size of its territory before 1896. The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Colombes proper, in its geography at the given years. The Hôtel de Ville was completed in 1923.

Population

Geography

Climate

Colombes 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 Colombes 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 Colombes was on 6 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 17 January 1985.

Administration

The city is divided into two cantons: * Colombes-1 (north) * Colombes-2 (south)

Transport

Colombes is served by four 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 at

Colombes Colombes () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 53rd largest city in France. ...

, Le Stade,

and Les Vallées.

Education

The commune has 21 preschools and 19 elementary schools. Secondary schools: * Junior high schools: Robert Paparemborde, Marguerite Duras, Gay Lussac, Moulin Joly, Jean-Baptiste Clément, LakanalCollège Robert Paparemborde
" French Ministry of Education. Retrieved on September 7, 2016.--> * Senior high schools: Lycée Guy de Maupassant, Lycee Polyvalent Claude Garamont, Lycee Polyvalent Anatole de France

Personalities

Quilapayún Quilapayún () are a folk music group from Chile and among the longest lasting and most influential ambassadors of the ''Nueva canción, Nueva Canción Chilena'' movement and genre. Formed during the mid-1960s, the group became inseparable with t ...

, Chilean music group forced into exile in France after the 1973 Coup. They settled in Colombes. * Jordan Aboudou, basketball player * Lens Aboudou, basketball player * Josué Albert, footballer * Bryan Alceus, footballer * Mame-Ibra Anne, athlete * Jean‐Ricner Bellegarde, footballer * Kelly Berville, footballer * Zoumana Camara, footballer * Pierre Clayette, artist * Mathieu Cossou, karateka * Simone Jorry, deaf / hard-of-hearing rights activist *

Marie-Antoinette Katoto Marie-Antoinette Oda Katoto (born 1 November 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Première Ligue club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Widely considered as one of the best strikers in the worl ...

, footballer * Manu Koné, footballer * Eliaquim Mangala, footballer * Abdoulaye Méïté, footballer *

Claude Mérelle Claude Mérelle (born Lise Henriette Marie Laurent; 17 May 1888 – 16 December 1976) was a French people, French stage and film actress who appeared in numerous films during the silent film era of the early 1910s through the late 1920s. Career ...

, actress * Samuel Nadeau, basketball player * Alexandre Postel (born 1982), writer * Steven Nzonzi, footballer * Denise Roger, composer * Kevin Thalien, basketball player *

Élodie Thomis Élodie Ginette Thomis (; born 13 August 1986) is a French former football player who played for French club Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, Lyon of the Division 1 Féminine. She played either a Midfielder#Winger, winger or Forward (association fo ...

, footballer *

Axel Tony Axel Tony (born in Colombes in 1984) is a French singer of mixed Cameroonian / Martinique / Vietnamese origin. He is signed to Universal Music France. Career Axel Tony was born to a Cameroonian father and a Martiniquais-born mother (of Vietname ...

, singer * Jonathan Toto, footballer * Eddy Viator, footballer * Rama Yade, politician, moved into a council flat in Colombes with her mother and three sisters at the age of fourteen.Rama Yade: The political star who's eclipsing Sarko
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 14 April 2009 * Pierpoljak, reggae singer

Sport

The stadium was built in 1907. Officially named the

Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir The Stade Yves-du-Manoir (officially Stade olympique Yves-du-Manoir, also known as the Stade olympique de Colombes, or simply Colombes to the locals) is a rugby, track, and association football stadium in Colombes, near Paris, France, Paris, Fra ...

, the Olympic Stadium of Colombes was the site of the opening ceremony and several events of the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

. The arena's capacity was increased to 60,000 for the

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. The stadium lost its importance after the restoration in 1972 of Paris' 49,000-seat

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

. In the 1990s, three of the four grandstands were torn down due to decay and the stadium's capacity was down to 7,000; later renovations have brought the current capacity to 14,000. Through November 2017, it had been home to the

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French professional rugby union club based in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Paris' western inner Banlieue, suburbs that competes in Top 14. The club plays its home matches at the 30,681-capacity Stadium#Types, domed stadium Pa ...

rugby club, currently playing in France's

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

, but Racing has since moved to the new U Arena in

Nanterre Nanterre (; ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, b ...

. The

RCF Paris Racing Club de France Football, commonly known as Racing Club de France (), is a French football club based in the Paris suburb of Colombes. The club was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline sports club, and is one of the oldest clubs in Fr ...

football club, which plays in the fourth division, remains at Yves-du-Manoir. The stadium was the field hockey venue at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Twin towns

Frankenthal Frankenthal (Pfalz) (; ) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinians, Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, aft ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

since 1958 * Legnano,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

since 1964

References

External links

Official website
*
Colombes in postal card
(Colombes philatelic society) *

''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 historical drama, historical Sports film, sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Summer ...

'' stadium reprieved {{Authority control Communes of Hauts-de-Seine Cities in Île-de-France