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'Évry' is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 25.0 km. (15.5 miles) from the center of Paris, in the "new town" of Évry Ville Nouvelle, created in the 1960s, of which it is the central and most populated commune.
Significant nearby towns include Courcouronnes, Corbeil-Essonnes, Ris-Orangis, Brétigny-sur-Orge, and Draveil.

Contents

Name

History

Demographics

Immigration

Administration

Transport

Religious activity

Political activity

Miscellaneous

Twinnings

External links

Name

Originally the commune was called ''Évry-sur-Seine'' (meaning "Évry upon Seine"). The name Évry comes from the Gallic name ''Eburacon'' or ''Eburiacos'', meaning "land of Eburos" (a Gallic patronym), perhaps the leader of a Gallic tribe in the area before the conquest of Gaul by the Romans. After the conquest, the name was corrupted into Latin ''Apriacum'', then Medieval Latin ''Avriacum'', and later ''Evriacum''.
In 1881 the name of the commune was changed into ''Évry-Petit-Bourg'' at the request of entrepreneur Paul Decauville, owner of ''Ateliers de Petit-Bourg'', a large boiler works located in Évry and at the time the largest employer in the area. The factory owed its name to the hamlet of Petit-Bourg (one of the three hamlets on the territory of Évry) where it was built.
On June 29, 1965 the name of the ''commune'' was shortened into Évry only. Évry had just been chosen to become a "new town" of the suburbs of Paris, destined to host tens of thousands of suburbanites, and so the name "Petit-Bourg" (literally meaning "little borough, small town" in modern French, although etymologists think that this name was in fact the corruption of an old Gallic word with a totally different meaning) was deemed too old fashioned and improper for the new large suburban city of Évry to be built.

History

In 1965 Évry became part of the French new town initiative and took its current name. Before it was known as Évry-Petit-Bourg and had a population of only a few thousand.
When Évry was built Orly was the N°1 international airport of France and many international companies such as Digital, Hewlett Packard, and Alsthom established their head offices in Évry. However, with the expansion of Charles de Gaulle Roissy airport, all the larger companies have moved out causing the downfall of the many smaller service companies which catered to the lunchtime needs of the thousands of staff which were either displaced or made redundant.
Amongst the few international companies remaining are the hotel and catering firm of Accor, and the supermarket chain of Carrefour. Although both have a postal Cedex address in Évry, geographically they are in Courcouronnes.
The town has tried to counteract this exodus by increasing the capacity of the commercial center, the Agora to 286 shops, mostly selling the same wares (53 ready made women's wear, 19 shoe shops, 18 mens wear, 14 childrens wear, 14 jewellers, 12 mobile phone shops, 9 opticians, and 30 restaurants and snack bars). The car parks were destined to be "pay by the hour" but in view of the lack of trade, the idea has been shelved notwithstanding the expense of installing the barriers and pay points.
Another measure taken by the local authorities has been to declare certain quarters a "''zone franche''" which means that businesses starting up in these areas are exempt from corporation tax along with many other social benefits and aids which makes Évry an attractive town for future ''entrepreneurs''.
The Cathedral of the Resurrection, dedicated to Saint Corbinien is the only cathedral to have been built in Europe during the 20th Century. Pope John-Paul II made a visit on August 22, 1997, and although car parks were requisitioned as far away as Corbeil-Essonnes, apart from invited guests, less than 500 people turned out for the event, which means that Évry maybe holds the world record for the smallest crowd at a papal appearance.
In 2003, the socialist mayor, Manuel Valls, (born 13 August 1962, in Barcelona, Catalonia) and who is also the constituency deputé (Member of Parliament) and a qualified avocat (barrister), finally embarked upon a massive safeguard plan designed to entirely renovate the more defavourised areas which includes much demolition of the obsolete 1960s buildings (especially in the "Pyramides" quarter, once the French equivalent of the Gorbals), and the upgrading of the more recent residential structures and schools. 2006 will see the final renovation of the ''Collège des Pyramides'' at the cost of 11.43M€ (the price of a new school) and will receive 571 pupils. In 2007, enlargement and renovation will begin on the Lycée des Loges. The work will last 3 years without interruption of lessons and the budget is set at 40M€.
On January 31, 2006, in the Sénat during the 14th ceremony of the "''Prix du Trombinoscope 2005''" (press awards), Manuel Valls was elected "Local Representative of the Year."

Demographics

Evry is a very young town. The average age of the population is only 26 years. On the 4 September 2006, 6,400 children began a new academic year in the town's 42 schools which will shortly receive a renovation grant of 620,000€. (3,200 meals are served daily in the school canteens and the town has spent 96,000€ on classroom accessories. Not including teaching staff, 350 auxiliaries are employed looking after the 3-11 year old children.)
At the other end of the age span, Evry has only three residences for old folk and the cemetery, proportionally small compared to towns with similar a population figure, is closed to further inhumations. Burials are now carried out at the Garenne cemetery in nearby Courcouronnes where a crematorium has also recently been built.

Immigration

Administration

Évry is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Essonne ''département''. It is also the official seat of the arrondissement of Évry, although in reality the ''sous-préfecture'' buildings and administration are located in the neighboring commune of Corbeil-Essonnes.
Évry is the capital of two cantons:

★ Évry-Nord, 2 communes, population 38,358

★ Évry-Sud, 3 communes, population 41,368

Transport

Évry is served by three stations on Paris RER line D: Évry, Évry – Courcouronnes, and Le Bras-de-Fer.

Religious activity

Évry has the following religious edifices (in descending order of attendance):

★ Mosque and Islamic Centre (second largest in France). Mosque:[1]

★ Cathedral of the Resurrection (only cathedral to be built in Europe during the 20th century). Évry Cathedral:[2]

★ Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)

★ Evangelist Centre (Protestant).

★ Adventist Church. Adventist Church:[3]

★ Parish church of St Peter & St Paul (extremely rare 12th century building oriented N/S instead of E/W). Parish Church:[4]

★ Synagogue

★ Notre Dame de l'Esperance. Parish Church:[5]

★ Convent of Notre Dame de Sion
There is also a very strong presence of Jehovah's Witnesses in Évry with their Kingdom Hall in Ris Orangis.
The Grand Mosque of Évry is one of the largest in Western Europe, and is of Moroccan architecture. It has a large and elegant prayer room that can accommodate several hundreds of people. Islam in France is growing, and currently, there are around 5 million Muslims in France's 60 million general population. Évry presents a place of much multiculturalism although problems rarely arise. The mosque was partly funded by the Morocaan King.
The Pagoda Khan-Anh will be the largest Pagoda in Europe. Construction began in 1996 and is expected to be completed in 2009. The statue of Buddha, 4 metres tall and weighing 5 tons, arrived from Thailand on the 20 October 2002. The pagoda will be the headquarters of the European Buddhist Congregation and will be a training school for future monks and nuns. It was planned that the Dalai Lama would consecrate the edifice on 12 July 2006, but his European tour was cancelled at the last minute on order of his doctors. Pagoda:[6]

Political activity

The following political parties have a permanent base in Évry:

★ Parti Communiste Français

★ Parti Radical de Gauche

★ Parti Socialiste

★ UDF

★ UMP

★ Groupe des Verts

★ Groupe "Défi pour Évry"

★ Groupe "Nous, Citoyens d'Évry"

Miscellaneous

Towards the end of the war General Patton crossed the Seine with his tanks at Évry en route from Avranches going to the Ardennes where he fought the Battle of the Bulge. The anniversary of the liberation of Évry on the 23 August 1944, is celebrated annually at the Patton Memorial
Although Évry is a modern "new town," which is generally synonymous with "concrete jungle," 50% of its surface area is parkland and open space. The main thoroughfares are very wide avenues and trees are to be found everywhere. In the nationwide intercommunal competition "Ville Fleurie" (flowered town) Évry has been awarded the high status of "3 flowers," usually won by country villages. To encourage this aspect of the town an annual "Balcon Fleurie" (flowered balcony) competition is held. A similar balcony competition is held each December for the best exterior Christmas decorations.
Some people consider the modern cathedral as an architectural beauty while others liken the design to that of a blast furnace.
Évry is the home of the European space project Ariane, at the Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES).

Twinnings

Évry is twinned with the London Borough of Bexley in England. This is because, originally, Évry was designed to be a predominantly management and executive class town. Today, however, Évry resembles Dagenham and has little in common with Bexley.
Évry is also twinned with Nowy Targ in Poland; Troisdorf in Germany; Esteli in Nicaragua; and Repentigny in Québec.
The Agglomération d'Évry has twinning pacts with Kayes in Mali; and the refugee camp of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. (Maison du Monde, 509, Patio des Terrasses, Évry, sharing the address with a branch of Amnesty International).
The latest addition to the overseas contacts is a "''parrainage''" (godfather) pact with Bozovici in Romania.

External links

★ http://www.mairie-evry.fr/

★ http://www.agglo-evry.fr

★ http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pcf.evry/ (Evry branch communist party)

★ http://www.echosdesquartiers.com (Pyramides/Bois Sauvage)

★ University of Evry site

★ Cathedral of the Resurrection in Evry

★ http://catholique-evry.cef.fr (Cathedral and diocese)

★ Blog on the town of Évry