Aubervilliers

Sister cities

• Empoli
• Jena

History

As with many communes in the outer suburbs the town had long been a rural area. Formerly known as Notre-Dame-des-Vertus, the village was on a plain which produced the best vegetables around Paris. Aubervilliers first appears in the archives in 1059 as Albertivillare, meaning "estate of Adalbert". In the following year Henry I donated it to the Priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs. In 1111 the serfs were freed in Aubervilliers. In 1182 the priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs, located in Paris, granted Paris butchers the right to freely graze their cattle in the fields after the harvest was over. In 1221, Guillaume Bateste, lord of Franconville, became the first Lord of Vivier les Aubervilliers. The church, which at the beginning of the 13th century depended on one of the parishes of Saint Denis, soon became famous for the miraculous appearance of an image of the Virgin. In 1336 Father Jacques Du Breul, Prior of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, reported the Miracle of the rain: A young girl busy preparing flowers to adorn the statue of the Virgin in the church saw her face streaming with tears when the rain began to fall on the parched crops. In 1338 King Philip VI of France and his queen went to Aubervilliers to visit the image. From 1340 to 1792 people went there in droves each year from Paris and its surroundings. In 1402 Michel de Laillier, Lord of Ermenonville, became Lord of Vivier les Aubervilliers. In 1429 the town was occupied by the English but was retaken by Michel de Laillier in 1436. Louis XI went there in November 1474 to the house of Pierre L’Orfèvre, the new Lord of Vivier from then until August 1478. The image of the Virgin in lead that the king wore on his hat was a representation of the one at Aubervilliers. In 1531 the Lordship of Vivier les…

Geography

Aubervilliers is one of three communes in the Plaine Saint-Denis, north-east of the centre of Paris. The Canal Saint-Denis traverses the commune on the western side from north to south. Aubervilliers is a commune close to Paris and has numerous means of transport including: the A86 autoroute from L'Île-Saint-Denis in the west to Drancy in the east with Exit 9 on the northern border of the commune, Route nationale N301 from Stains in the north and joining the Paris ring road in the south, the D20 from Gennevilliers in the west, the D27 from Bobigny in the east, and the D115 from Pantin in the south-east. The Paris ring road is just outside the southern border of the commune and there are two access routes to it: by the Porte d'Aubervilliers and by the Porte de la Villette. These roads provide easy access to the network of roads and motorways around Paris as well as Le Bourget and Charles de Gaulle airports. The Canal Saint-Denis once had important river ports and there was the Paris-Hirson railway and an industrial railway for Saint-Denis/Aubervilliers which served the Plaine Saint-Denis. The RER railway passes through the north of the commune and the station of La Courneuve-Aubervilliers, located just north of the commune on the N301 road, serves Aubervilliers. There are also two Metro stations on the south-western border on Avenue Jean-Jaures: Aubervilliers-Pantin-Quatre Chemins at the corner of Ave. de la Republique, and Fort d'Aubervilliers at the corner of Ave. de la Division Leclerc. The commune is served by: * Paris Métro Line 7 : stations Aubervilliers-Pantin-Quatre Chemins and Fort d'Aubervilliers; * Sixteen bus routes: ; * Gare de La Plaine-Stade de France: as far as Saint-Denis and Aubervilliers; * Gare de La Courneuve - Aubervilliers: located in…

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  19,847
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  19,083
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  18,648
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,749
• Rose-ringed Parakeet

  Psittacula krameri (Scopoli, 1769) · Aves
  15,522
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  14,887
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  14,675
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,168

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2005-06-01
  3 km N of Grandvilliers, France