Nanterre

Sister cities

• Craiova
• Žilina
• Pesaro
• Watford
• Veliky Novgorod
• Tlemcen

History

Archeological discoveries made between 1994 and 2005 found a Gallic necropolis which has been dated to the third century BC, and also call into debate both the exact location of the pre-Roman capital of the Parisii and the initial site of Lutetia, the Roman era Paris. The large necropolis, as well as working people's homes from some time later in the ancient era, is near the bank of the Seine, in the northwest of Nanterre, and might be the sacred place that is referred to etymologically. The archeological work in Nanterre has suggested over of pre-Roman or Roman-era construction. These archeological findings may be an indication that Nanterre was the closest pre-Roman settlement to the modern centre of Paris. Lutetia is mentioned by Julius Caesar in 50 BCE, reporting an assembly in Lutetia in 53 BC between himself, commander of the Roman Legions, and local Gallic leaders. During the repression of January and February 1894, the police conducted raids targeting the anarchists living there, without much success. The Hôtel de Ville (town hall), designed in the shape of a pyramid, was completed in 1973. On 27 March 2002, Richard Durn, a disgruntled local activist, shot and killed eight town councilors and 19 others were wounded at the town hall in what the French press dubbed the Nanterre massacre. On 28 March, the murderer killed himself by jumping from the 4th floor of 36 Quai des Orfèvres, in Paris, while he was questioned by two policemen about the reason for his killings. In June 2023, seventeen year old Nahel Merzouk was killed by a police officer following a traffic stop. His death sparked violent unrest around France.