Drancy

Drancy is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris in the Seine-Saint-Denis department in northern France. It is located 10.8 km (6.7 mi) from the center of Paris.

Toponymy
The name Drancy comes from Medieval Latin Derenciacum, and before that Terentiacum, meaning "estate of Terentius", a Gallo-Roman landowner.

Origins to 20th century
In the 17th century, Drancy was divided into two distinct villages: Drancy le Grand and le Petit Drancy. The quarter "Village Parisien" is built on the old location of the hamlet of Groslay, which was surrounded by the Forest of Bondy: hence the name of rue des Bois de Groslay.

The end of nineteenth century was marked by industrialisation and the development of rail transport. During the Franco-Prussian war, Le Bourget was the site of an important battle and the castle of Ladoucette in Drancy was destroyed.

20th and 21st centuries
During World War II, Drancy was the site of the Drancy internment camp where Jews, Gypsies, and others were held before being shipped to the Nazi concentration camps. In 1976, the Memorial to the Deportation at Drancy was created by sculptor Shlomo Selinger to commemorate the French Jews imprisoned in the camp. In 2009 the memorial was vandalised. The French government vowed to find those responsible for painting swastikas on it.

Climate
Data climate for Le Bourget (Seine-Saint-Denis) 1971-2000

Architecture
Drancy's buildings are too diverse to be characterised by any particular architectural style. Some of them with a style Art Nouveau are typical of the 19th and 20th centuries. There are housing estates and a garden city.

Park and Castle of Ladoucette
The parc de Ladoucette is the only park of Drancy. It contains a pond, a small educational farm and the castle of Ladoucette. The castle was built in 1533 by Pierre Séguier. In the 19th century, the castle was the property of the senator Charles-Loetitia de Ladoucette. In 1874 his wife, la Baronne de Ladoucette, died and her body was placed in the Mausoleum de la Baronne de Ladoucette. Today she is buried in the Parisian cemetery.

Typology
Drancy is an urban commune, as it is one of the dense or intermediate density communes, as defined by the Insee communal density grid. It belongs to the urban unit of Paris, an inter-departmental conurbation comprising 411 communes and 10,785,092 inhabitants in 2017, of which it is a suburban commune.

The commune is also part of the functional area of Paris where it is located in the main population and employment centre of the functional area. This area comprises 1,929 communes.

Administration
Part of the commune forms the canton of Drancy. The other part belongs to the canton of Le Blanc-Mesnil.

Railways and buses
Drancy is in Zone 3 of the Carte orange. The city is served by Le Bourget station and by Drancy station on Paris RER line B. Le Bourget station is situated near Drancy as well as the métro station La Courneuve–8 mai 1945 on the Line 7. The RER B is one of the five lines in the RER Rapid transit system serving Paris and its suburbs.

Drancy is also served by the Paris Tramway Line 1 with five stops and by twelve bus lines.

By the RER B, Drancy is near many Parisian railway stations, Gare du Nord is now just 10 minutes away, Gare Saint-Lazare and Gare de Lyon can be reached in 30 minutes. Charles de Gaulle Airport can also be reached in 30 minutes.

Roads
Drancy is served by the A3 motorway and the A86 motorways.

Education
Schools:
 * 17 public preschools (écoles maternelles)
 * 19 public elementary schools
 * Six public junior high schools (collèges): Paul Bert, Anatole France, Jorissen, Paul Langevin, Liberte, Pierre Samard
 * One private junior high school, Collège Saint-Germain
 * Two public senior high schools/sixth-form colleges: Lycée Eugène Delacroix and Lycée Paul le Rolland

International relations
Drancy is twinned with:
 * 🇬🇧 Willenhall
 * 🇩🇪 Eisenhüttenstadt
 * 🇸🇳 Gorée