Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine (
pronounced in
French) is a
commune in the western suburbs of
Paris,
France. It is located 6.8 km (4.2 miles) from the
center of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in
Europe.
Neuilly is a wealthy
suburb of
Paris, although one that is immediately adjacent to Paris and a direct extension of it; it comprises mostly select residential neighbourhoods and also hosts the
headquarters of many
corporations. It is often lumped together with some areas of the neighbouring
16th arrondissement of
Paris as
Auteuil-Neuilly-Passy, a compendium of "
bourgeois" neighbourhoods.
The origins of Neuilly-sur-Seine's name are quite confused and controversial. Originally, Neuilly was a small hamlet under the jurisdiction of Villiers, a larger settlement mentioned in medieval sources as early as
832 and now absorbed by the commune of
Levallois-Perret. It was not until
1222 that the little settlement of Neuilly, established on the banks of the
Seine, was mentioned for the first time in a
charter of the
Abbey of Saint-Denis: the name was recorded in
Medieval Latin as
Portus de Lulliaco, meaning "Port of Lulliacum". In
1224 another charter of Saint-Denis recorded the name as
Lugniacum. In a sales contract dated
1266 the name was also recorded as
Luingni.
In
1316, however, in a ruling of the
parlement of
Paris, the name was recorded as
Nully, quite a different name from those recorded before. In a document dated
1376 the name was again recorded as
Nulliacum (the Medieval Latin version of
Nully). Then in the following centuries the name recorded alternated between
Luny and
Nully, and it is only after
1648 that the name was definitely set as
Nully, later spelt
Neuilly.
Various explanations and etymologies have been proposed to explain these discrepancies in the names of Neuilly recorded over the centuries. It seems most plausible to consider that the original name of Neuilly was
Lulliacum or
Lugniacum, and that it was only later corrupted into
Nulliacum /
Nully. Some interpret
Lulliacum or
Lugniacum as meaning "estate of Lullius (or Lunius)", probably a
Gallo-Roman landowner. This interpretation is based on the many placenames of France made up of the names of Gallo-Roman landowners and suffixed with the traditional placename suffix "-acum". However, other researchers object that it is unlikely that Neuilly owes its name to a Gallo-Roman
patronym, because during the Roman occupation of
Gaul the area of Neuilly was inside the large Forest of Rouvray, of which the
Bois de Boulogne is all that remains today, and was probably not settled yet.
These researchers contend that it is only after the fall of the Roman Empire and the Germanic invasions that the area of Neuilly was deforested and settled. Thus, they think that the name
Lulliacum or
Lugniacum comes from the ancient Germanic word
lund meaning "forest", akin to
Old Norse lundr meaning "grove", to which the placename suffix "-acum" was added. The Old Norse word
lundr has indeed left many placenames across Europe, such as the city of
Lund in Sweden, the Forest of the Londe in
Normandy, or the many English placenames containing "lound", "lownde", or "lund" in their name, or ending in "-land". However, this interesting theory fails to explain why the "d" of
lund is missing in
Lulliacum or
Lugniacum.
Concerning the discrepancy in names over the centuries, the most probable explanation is that the original name
Lulliacum or
Lugniacum was later corrupted into
Nulliacum /
Nully by inversion of the consonants, perhaps under the influence of an old Celtic word meaning "swampy land, boggy land" (as was the land around Neuilly-sur-Seine in ancient times) which is found in the name of many French places anciently covered with water, such as Noue, Noë, Nouan, Nohant, etc. Or perhaps the consonants were simply inverted under the influence of the many settlements of France called Neuilly (a frequent placename whose etymology is completely different from the special case of Neuilly-sur-Seine).
Until the
French Revolution, the settlement was often referred to as
Port-Neuilly, but at the creation of
French communes in
1790 the "Port" was dropped and the newly born commune was named simply
Neuilly.
On
May 2,
1897 the commune name officially became Neuilly-sur-Seine (meaning "Neuilly upon
Seine"), in order to distinguish it from the many communes of France also called Neuilly. However, most people continue to refer to Neuilly-sur-Seine as simply "Neuilly". Inhabitants are called
Neuilléens.
On
January 1,
1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes. On that occasion, a part of the territory of Neuilly-sur-Seine was annexed by the city of Paris, and forms now the neighborhood of
Ternes, in the
17th arrondissement of Paris.
On
January 11,
1867, part of the territory of Neuilly-sur-Seine was detached and merged with a part of the territory of
Clichy to create the commune of
Levallois-Perret.
In
1919 the
Treaty of Neuilly was signed with
Bulgaria in Neuilly-sur-Seine to conclude its role in
World War I.
In
1929, the
Bois de Boulogne, which was hitherto divided between the communes of Neuilly-sur-Seine and
Boulogne-Billancourt, was annexed in its entirety by the city of Paris.
(partial list)*
Achille Peretti (1947-1983)
*
Nicolas Sarkozy (1983-2002)
*
Louis-Charles Bary (since 2002)
Neuilly-sur-Seine is served by three stations on
Paris Metro line 1:
Porte Maillot (with a direct access to RER line C),
Les Sablons and
Pont de Neuilly.
RATP Bus lines : 43, 73, 82, 174
Neuilly-sur-Seine is home to
Gérard Depardieu, the Rollins family and
Jean Reno, among others.Neuilly-sur-Seine is the home of the
NATO Research and Technology Organization (RTO).
*
Uccle,
Belgium*
Maidenhead &
Windsor,
Berkshire,
England*
Hanau,
Hesse,
Germany*
Neuilly-sur-Seine city council website (in French)
