Montreuil (sometimes called Montreuil-sur-Mer) is a French
commune located in the Pas-de-Calais department in the
Hauts-de-France region. Despite its small population (2,014
inhabitants at the last census in 2017) and its small area,
Montreuil is a relatively large municipality since it occupies the
status of sub-prefecture of the department (alongside large cities
such as Calais, Boulogne and Lens) as well as that of the capital of
a departmental arrondissement grouping together 164 municipalities,
some of which are much more populated such as Berck and Étaples. It
is the 5th least populated sub-prefecture in France and is one of
the few sub-prefectures not to be part of the most populous cities
of its department (Montreuil is the 145th city of Pas-de-Calais,
which is a record).
Typical village with a rich history,
mainly known for its fortifications and ramparts dating from the
13th and 16th centuries, it has become one of the main tourist
places in the region and has received numerous labels.
Civil architecture
Town Hall (18th - 19th centuries);
Roger-Rodière Art and History Museum;
Place Darnétal;
Place du
Général-de-Gaulle is one of the largest squares in the North of
France;
Cavée Saint-Firmin (classified landscaped site);
Rue
du Clape-en-Bas (listed as a historical monument) where there are
small typical 18th century houses now occupied by craftsmen and
restorers;
Montreuil-sur-Mer train station;
Equestrian statue
of Marshal Douglas Haig (listed as a historic monument), the work of
sculptor Paul Landowski.
There are about forty private
mansions built between 1730 and the end of the 19th century. Certain
districts were privileged by the builders, to the point of being
compared by Victor Hugo to a "small suburb of Saint-Germain".
Former hotel of the Marshal of Acary-de-la-Rivière (listed as a
historical monument) on the Saint-Firmin square, number 1;
The
so-called "Farmer" house or hotel of the Solare fountain, located at
98 rue Pierre-Ledent, on the edge of the Saint-Firmin square;
Hôtel Guéroult de Boisrobert, located at 6 parvis Saint-Firmin;
Hôtel de la fontaine d'Hémencourt, located at 119 parvis
Saint-Firmin;
Hôtel de Jacquemin de Châteaurenault and de
Rougeat, located at 101 parvis Saint-Firmin;
Hôtel d'Hurtrel
d'Arboval located at numbers 84-46 of the Saint-Firmin square;
Hôtel Loysel le Gaucher (listed as a historical monument), located
rue Victor-Dubourg;
Half-timbered house, known as the
Pot-d'Étain, at 21-23 rue Pierre-Ledent (listed as historical
monuments);
Medieval cellars (listed as historical monuments in
2012);
Houses backing onto the old ramparts.
Military
heritage
Citadel of Montreuil-sur-Mer (classified as historical
monuments, classified site, Natura 2000 Zone);
Ramparts, urban
enclosures of 8 linear km of fortification, in the upper town (2,700
m of promenade) and lower town, bastions (classified as historical
monuments);
Powder magazines;
Porte de Boulogne;
German
undergrounds (listed as historical monuments) and blockhouses.
Montreuil is cited for the first time in 89810 in the Annales de
Saint-Bertin and de Saint-Vaast.
The castle of Montreuil
dates from the ninth century, it was then the main fortress in the
region. Its construction is attributed to Helgaud, count of Boulogne
but it seems rather to be Helgaud count of Montreuil. Then began the
military career of the city which will see successive during six
centuries of medieval wars many constructions.
The city owes
its name to a "small monastery" (monasterolium). We know that some
time later, after 913, the monks of Landévennec (Finistère) found
refuge there after the destruction of their monastery by the Vikings
and in 926 created the Saint-Walloy abbey in honor of Saint Walloy,
a local deformation. named after Saint Guénolé. Subsequently, the
dedication changes, and the establishment becomes the Abbey of
Saint-Saulve.
Count Helgaud seemed to have already endowed it
with an enclosure and a count's castle. Duke Guillaume Longue-Épée
removed it from Count Arnoul de Flandres to return it to his lord,
Herluin. Dudon de Saint-Quentin recounts: “The Duke said to his
soldiers: come and bring me the planks of the palisade of the castle
of Montreuil and take me prisoners to his defenders who resist us.
And they stormed the castle in front of William and brought him the
posts of the wall at the same time as the prisoners ”.
In
980, Montreuil was attached to the royal domain.
In 988,
Hugues Capet made Montreuil the only seaport of the French monarchy,
heir to the opulent and mysterious Quentovic port.
In 1091,
Philippe I, king of France, tired of his wife Berthe of Holland, had
her locked up in the castle of Montreuil, which was part of the
dowry received by Berthe (she was the daughter-in-law of the count
of Flanders Robert the Frisian). Berthe was repudiated in 1092,
Philippe wishing to marry Bertrade de Montfort and died in Montreuil
in 1093.
In 1188, Philippe Auguste granted a municipal
charter.
At the beginning of the thirteenth century, Philippe
Auguste, in order to protect this prominent maritime façade, built a
powerful royal castle of which significant elements remain today.
On June 19, 1299, Montreuil-sur-Mer agreement between Philippe
IV le Bel and Édouard Ier.
The many relics, so piously
venerated in the Middle Ages and held by its many places of worship,
attracted pilgrims and gave the city a character of holiness. At the
time, the city had more than 10,000 inhabitants, which is far more
than today: less than 3,000 in 1999.
The city then exported
its sheets, the fame of which rivaled even in Italy those of
Flanders or Artois (we said of Montreuil as we say today of tulle).
In 1435, Montreuil passed into the possessions of the
Burgundians by the Treaty of Arras.
In 1467, a natural
disaster caused the collapse of at least six religious buildings. It
is not known today whether it is an earthquake or a collapse of
underground layers.
At the end of the Middle Ages, the
silting up of the Canche led to the decline of the city. Maritime
trade collapsed, the city took refuge in itself.
Modern times
In June 1537, the troops of Charles Quint and Henry VIII lay siege
at the foot of Montreuil. Forced to surrender, the city is largely
destroyed.
The plague struck the city in 1596.
In
1567, Charles IX ordered the construction of a citadel on the site
of the old castle of the thirteenth century. Around 1670, Vauban
perfected the work of his predecessors by remodeling the citadel and
adding a powder magazine and an arsenal.
In the eighteenth
century, despite the silting up of the Canche and the decline of the
port, the prosperity of the city enabled it to adorn itself with
numerous mansions.
French Revolution and Empire
The right
flank (seen from the English side, Montreuil being south of
Boulogne) of the Boulogne camp was set up in Montreuil in 1803 and
gave the city a bit of life. Marshals Soult and Ney have their
headquarters there.
Contemporary period
In the 19th
century, the quest for progress caused the destruction of part of
the lower ramparts in order to allow the passage of the
Arras-Étaples railway line, which was put into service on August 5,
1878.
Montreuil fell then for more than a century in a
lethargy that was only to disturb, during the First World War, the
presence within its walls of the great British headquarters under
the command of Marshal Douglas Haig.
Montreuil is cited twice in the literature: Lawrence Sterne, who visited the city in 1765, recounted his visit in his novel Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. Montreuil is also the scene of a large part of the first part of Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables. The main character of the novel, Jean Valjean, owns a large factory there which made the prosperity of the city of which he became the mayor. This factory and the long tradition of a black glass industry in Montreuil only exist in the imagination of Victor Hugo. Montreuil is the scene of most of the conflict between Valjean and Javert. It is also the hometown of Fantine, the mother of Cosette.
Location and Situation
The city lies approximately 6.6 km (4.1 mi)
east of central Paris (measured from kilometre zero at Notre-Dame). Its
coordinates are roughly 48°51′38″N 2°26′36″E. It sits directly north of
the Bois de Vincennes (Paris’s large eastern woodland park) and
straddles the boundary between Seine-Saint-Denis and the Val-de-Marne
department to the south and east.
Montreuil borders eight other
communes:
Paris (west/southwest)
Saint-Mandé and Vincennes (south)
Fontenay-sous-Bois (southeast)
Rosny-sous-Bois (east)
Noisy-le-Sec
and Romainville (north)
Bagnolet (west)
This position places
it in the “Petite Couronne” (inner ring) of Paris suburbs, highly
integrated into the capital’s metropolitan fabric via metro lines (9 and
11), tram, and roads.
Topography and Relief
Montreuil occupies
a limestone plateau that forms part of the larger Plateau de
Romainville. The terrain slopes noticeably away from Paris: the
southwestern part (Bas-Montreuil) is lower and flatter, while the
northern and eastern sections (Haut-Montreuil) rise more steeply. A
southern bifurcation of the plateau hosts the city centre and town hall.
In the northwest lies the smaller Plateau de Malassise, which culminates
in three modest buttes.
Elevation ranges from 52 m (lowest point, rue
de Lagny in Bas-Montreuil) to 117 m (highest point, rue de Nanteuil in
the northeast), with an average of about 70 m. The underlying geology
includes marls rich in gypsum (historically quarried for Paris
plasterwork under Louis XIV). These clay-rich soils create local
instability risks—landslides, differential settling, and pluvial
flooding—exacerbated by urban impervious surfaces. Water towers and
reservoirs (e.g., rue Lenain-de-Tillemont, rue de la Montagne-Pierreuse)
exploit the elevation for gravity-fed distribution.
Hydrography
Montreuil has no natural rivers, streams, or permanent water bodies
draining the commune. Surface runoff is entirely managed through urban
stormwater systems. This absence of major waterways distinguishes it
from many Seine basin suburbs and contributes to flash-flood risks
during heavy rains.
Climate
Montreuil experiences a temperate
oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb), sometimes classified as a “degraded
oceanic” or “altered oceanic” variant typical of the southwestern Paris
basin. Winters are cool and damp; summers are warm but rarely extreme.
Data from nearby stations (e.g., Joinville-le-Pont, ~5 km away) show:
Annual mean temperature: 12.9 °C (1991–2020 period)
Annual
precipitation: 654 mm (fairly evenly distributed, with a slight spring
peak)
Record low: −15.6 °C (17 Jan 1985)
Record high: 42.5 °C (25
Jul 2019)
Longer-term averages (1971–2000) are similar: 12.1 °C
mean temperature and 642 mm precipitation. The city faces typical urban
heat-island effects and increasing climate-change pressures
(Météo-France RCP scenarios project warmer, drier summers by 2050).
Area, Land Use, and Urban Geography
The commune covers 8.92 km²
(3.44 sq mi). With a 2023 population of ~111,934, density reaches
approximately 12,550 inhabitants/km²—one of the highest in the Paris
suburbs.
The urban fabric closely follows the topography,
traditionally divided into Bas-Montreuil (southwest: former workshops,
flea-market zone, denser older housing) and Haut-Montreuil (north and
east: more elevated, mixed residential and parkland). The city is
administratively split into five broad sectors and 14 quartiers,
including:
Bas-Montreuil République / Étienne Marcel
La
Noue–Clos Français (with major parks)
Bel-Air / Grands-Pêchers
Montreau–Ruffins
Land use is predominantly residential (over 83 %
apartments, only 14 % individual houses). About 5 % is occupied by parks
and sports facilities, and another 5 % by disused industrial sites or
workshops. Remnants of 18th–19th-century horticultural heritage (famous
“murs à pêches” peach walls) survive in pockets but are now largely
integrated into urban or park landscapes.
Green Spaces and
Environment
Despite high density, Montreuil retains significant green
areas, several of which hold ecological importance:
Parc Montreau
(on historic abbey land)
Parc des Beaumonts
Parc départemental
Jean-Moulin–Les Guilands (Natura 2000 site, shared with Bagnolet)
These parks and smaller gardens provide biodiversity corridors and
recreational space. The commune participates in regional renaturing
efforts amid broader Île-de-France urbanization pressures. Environmental
challenges include soil movement risks and pluvial flooding; the 2003
drought was officially recognized as a natural disaster.