Argenteuil () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Argenteuil is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department, the seat of the arrondissement of Argenteuil. Argenteuil is part of the Métropole du Grand Paris.

Argenteuil is the fourth most populous commune in the suburbs of Paris (after Boulogne-Billancourt, 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.

Argenteuil shares borders with communes in 3 departements others than Val d'Oise : the Yvelines, Hauts-de-Seine, and Seine-Saint-Denis departements.

Name

thumb|left|The [[Hôtel de Ville, Argenteuil|Hotel de Ville]]

The name Argenteuil is recorded for the first time in a royal charter of 697 as Argentoialum, from a Latin/Gaulish root argento meaning "silver", "silvery", "shiny", perhaps in reference to the gleaming surface of the river Seine, on the banks of which Argenteuil is located, and from a Gaulish language suffix -ialo meaning "clearing, glade" or "place of".

History

Argenteuil was founded as a convent in the 7th century (see Pierre Abélard and the Convent of Argenteuil). The monastery 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, Eugène Delacroix, Auguste Renoir, Gustave Caillebotte, Alfred Sisley and Georges Braque.

The Hotel de Ville was completed in 1994.

Transport

Argenteuil is served by two stations on the Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare suburban rail line, which are Argenteuil 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.

Education

, the commune's schools have over 12,000 students. The commune has:

  • 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
  • Lycée Cognacq-Jay
  • Lycée Julie-Victoire Daubié
  • Lycée Jean Jaurès
  • Lycée Fernand et Nadia Léger
  • 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.

Social Housing

In June 2025, the demolition and reconstruction of the "Château" social housing building in the Val-Notre-Dame district is part of a vast urban renewal project.

Population

Immigration

Twin towns – sister cities

Argenteuil is twinned with:

  • Alessandria, Italy
  • Dessau-Roßlau, Germany
  • Hunedoara, 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
  • Claude Monet (1840–1926), painter, lived and worked here in 1871–1878
  • Georges Braque (1882–1963), painter, sculptor and co-founder of cubism
  • 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

Famous paintings of Argenteuil

thumb|In his 1872 painting, Springtime, Monet was interested in studying how unblended dabs of color could suggest the effect of brilliant sunlight filtered through leaves The [[Walters Art Museum.]]

  • 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:

Argenteuil and Seine near Argenteuil by Édouard Manet, Regatta at Argenteuil by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and The Bridge in Argenteuil by Gustave Caillebotte.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="5">

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

</gallery>

See also

  • Communes of the Val-d'Oise department

References

  • Official website
  • Official facebook
  • Association of Mayors of the Val d'Oise