Le Raincy

Le Raincy
The town hall of Le Raincy
Coat of arms
Paris and inner ring departments
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Seine-Saint-Denis
Arrondissement	Le Raincy
Canton	Le Raincy
Government
• Mayor	Éric Raoult
Area1	2.24 km2 (0.86 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	14,321
• Density	6,400/km2 (17,000/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	93062 / 93340
Elevation	51–114 m (167–374 ft) (avg. 83 m or 272 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Le Raincy is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 13.2 km (8.2 mi) from the center of Paris. Le Raincy is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-Saint-Denis department and the seat of the Arrondissement of Le Raincy.

Its population is small relative to surrounding communes - close to just 13,000 people. However its development as an administrative centre, along with the establishment over the years of a large number of schools, gives it more prominence than its population size would suggest.

History

In the 17th and 18th century, Raincy was known primarily as location of the Château du Raincy, now demolished. The commune of Le Raincy was created on 20 May 1869 by detaching a part of the territory of Livry-Gargan and merging it with a part of the territory of Clichy-sous-Bois and a small part of the territory of Gagny.

Heraldry

	the arms of le Raincy are blazoned : Or, an oak tree eradicated vert, overall a fess vair, in dexter base a crescent gules in sinister base a fleur de lys azure, all within a bordure gules.
motto: "Heri Nemus Urbs Hodie" (in French: "Forêt j'étais, Ville je suis" ; in English "Forest I was; City I am".

Notre-Dame du Raincy

The town today receives visitors - mainly to see the Notre-Dame du Raincy church. Designed by the brothers Auguste and Gustave Perret and built in 1922-1923, this was the first church to be built in reinforced concrete, and with no external ornamentation. The architecture is remarkable for the classicism of its columns, greatly enhanced by the stained glass windows of Maurice Denis and Marie-Alain Couturier. The church is listed as an historic monument. It was restored in the 1990s, and is in regular use. Many of the visitors to the church come from Japan, as a smaller replica of Notre Dame du Raincy was built in the Tokyo suburbs.

Transport

Le Raincy is served by Le Raincy – Villemomble – Montfermeil station on Paris RER line E.

Twin towns

Le Raincy is twinned with:

• London Borough of Barnet, United Kingdom
• Clusone, Italy
• Yavne, Israel

See also

• Communes of the Seine-Saint-Denis department

References

• INSEE

External links

• Notre-Dame du Raincy at Structurae
• Notre-Dame du Raincy at greatbuildings.com
• The Raincy blog