Corbeil-Essonnes is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 28.3 km. (17.6 miles) from the center of Paris.

Although neighboring Évry is the official seat of the Arrondissement of Évry, the sous-préfecture building and administration are located inside the commune of Corbeil-Essonnes.

In the 19th century, Corbeil-Essonnes was a centre of the flour-milling industry; Essonnes also had notable papermills.

History

The name Corbeil is derived from the Latin Corbulinum. From time of Aymon, comte de Corbeil (died 957), to the twelfth century it was the chief town of a powerful county, which passed to Mauger, son of Richard I of Normandy.

William de Corbeil (died 1136), became archbishop of Canterbury, but nothing is known for certain about his parentage. The Gothic church was built in the tenth century and rebuilt in the fifteenth century. Before the expulsion of the Jews Corbeil had a flourishing Jewish community, which numbered thirteenth-century scholars Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil and Perez ben Elijah. Peter of Corbeil (died 1222) was the teacher of Lotario de' Conti, who became pope as Innocent III.

Representatives of the king of France signed two treaties of Corbeil were signed in the town, the Treaty of Corbeil (1258) between France and Aragon and the Treaty of Corbeil (1326) between France and Scotland.

Corbeil was besieged by the Duke of Burgundy in 1418. The Protestants of France attacked it in 1562 amidst the religious war called the First Civil War. In 1590 General Alessandro Farnese came to the assistance of the Catholics in France and fought at Corbeil.

The commune of Corbeil-Essonnes was created on August 10, 1951 by the merger of the commune of Corbeil with the commune of Essonnes. The commune town hall (mairie) is located in Corbeil.

Demographics

At the 1999 census, the population was . The estimate for 2005 was .

Inhabitants of Corbeil-Essonnes are known as Corbeil-Essonnois.

Transport

Corbeil-Essonnes is served by Corbeil-Essonnes station which is an interchange station on Paris RER line D and on the Transilien Paris – Lyon suburban rail line.

Corbeil-Essonnes is also served by Essonnes – Robinson station on the Transilien Paris – Lyon suburban rail line and by Moulin-Galant station on Paris RER line D.

See also

• Communes of the Essonne department

References

• Mayors of Essonne Association
• INSEE
• IGN

External links

• Official website
• website MJC of Corbeil-Essonnes
• Mérimée database - Cultural heritage
• Land use (IAURIF)