Fontenay-sous-Bois

Fontenay-sous-Bois is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.3 km from the center of Paris.

Name
The name Fontenay was recorded in the Middle Ages as Fontanetum, meaning "the springs", from Medieval Latin fontana ("natural spring").

The commune was known alternatively as Fontenay-les-Bois (meaning "Fontenay by the woods"), Fontenay-sur-le-Bois (meaning "Fontenay over the wood"), or Fontenay-sous-Bois (meaning "Fontenay under wood"), but eventually in the early 19th century the latter name of Fontenay-sous-Bois became the only name. The wood referred to in the name of the commune is the Bois de Vincennes.

History
In 1929, the commune of Fontenay-sous-Bois lost more than a third of its territory when the city of Paris annexed the Bois de Vincennes, a large part of which belonged to Fontenay-sous-Bois.

Fountains
Due to the large number of natural springs in the area, fountains were established.

Among the more notable ones:

· The Carreaux fountain: no longer exists, but was located at the corner of rue André-Laurent and avenue de la République.

· The Rosettes fountain was originally located at avenue de la République and rue du Ruisseau but was moved a number of times. It was lost during World War II. Years later, it was found by chance in a market in the South of France; the town of Fontenay-sous-Bois recovered it, and re-installed it in the place where it can be seen today.

· The fountain of the Old Place d'Armes (place du Général-Leclerc) removed around 1862 due to significant leaks which caused unsanitary problems. It was reinstalled in 2002 during the redevelopment of the square.

Transport
Fontenay-sous-Bois is served by Fontenay-sous-Bois station on Paris RER line A.

It is also served by Val de Fontenay station, which is an interchange station on Paris RER line A and RER line E.

Education
The commune has eleven preschools, eleven elementary schools, one junior high school, two CES junior high schools, one senior high school/sixth-form college, and one LEP. Collège Victor Duruy and Lycée Pablo Picasso are the main secondary schools.

Personalities

 * Claude Le Péron, bass guitarist
 * Noe Pamarot, footballer
 * Blaise Matuidi, footballer
 * Georges Jouve, ceramist
 * Gambi, rapper
 * Stanislav Tyshchenko, prominent steel construction engineer
 * Jean-François Voguet, mayor from 2001 to 2014, ordered the expulsion of people living in a house belonging to the city. The mayor is now part of the few PCF mayors who practice the expulsion of squatters.

Interesting facts
In 2015 a street in Brovary, Ukraine was named after its sister city Fontenay-sous-Bois.