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Argenteuil |
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Commune of Argenteuil |
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| Location | |
| Location (in red) within Paris inner and outer suburbs | |
| Coordinates | |
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Île-de-France |
| Department | Val-d'Oise |
| Arrondissement | Argenteuil |
| Intercommunality | Argenteuil-Bezons]] |
| Mayor | Philippe Doucet (2008-) |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 21 m – 167 m m |
| Land area¹ | 17.22 km² |
| Population² (2005 estimate 1999 census) |
101,300 93,961 |
| - Density | 5883/km² (2005) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 95018/ 95100 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
Argenteuil is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 12.3 km (7.6 miles) from the center of Paris. Argenteuil is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department and the seat of the Arrondissement of Argenteuil.
Argenteuil is the second most populated commune in the suburbs of Paris (after Boulogne-Billancourt) and by far the most populated commune in the Val-d'Oise department, although it is not its capital, which is shared between the communes of Cergy and Pontoise.
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The name Argenteuil is recorded for the first time in a royal charter of 697 as Argentoialum, from a Latin/Gaulish radical 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 Celtic suffix -ialo meaning "clearing, glade", "place of".
Argenteuil was founded as a convent in the 7th century (→ Pierre Abélard, Convent of Argenteuil). The monastery that arose from the convent was destroyed during the French Revolution.
Argenteuil was known for the white asparagus and grapes grown there. The word Argenteuil is synonymous with white asparagus on menus. Once a rural escape for Parisians, it is now a suburb of Paris. Painters made Argenteuil famous, including Claude Monet, Jean-Étienne Delacroix, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Georges Braque.
Argenteuil is served by two stations on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line: Argenteuil and Val d'Argenteuil.
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The Seine at Argenteuil, by Claude Monet, 1874 |
Édouard Manet — Argenteuil, 1875 |
Édouard Manet — Seine near Argenteuil, 1874 |
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