Issy-les-Moulineaux
Issy-les-Moulineaux, is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. It is one of Paris entrances and is located 6.6 km (4.1 mi) from Notre-Dame Church, which is considered Kilometre Zero of France. On 1 January 2010, Issy-les-Moulineaux became part of the Communauté d'agglomération Grand Paris Seine Ouest.
Issy-les-Moulineaux has successfully moved its economy from an old manufacturing base to high value-added service sectors and is at the heart of the Val de Seine business district, the largest cluster of telecommunication and media businesses in France hosting the headquarters of most major French TV networks.
History
Originally, Issy-les-Moulineaux was simply called Issy. The name Issy comes from Medieval Latin Issiacum or Isciacum, perhaps meaning "estate of Isicius (or Iccius)", a Gallo-Roman landowner, although some think the name comes from a Celtic radical meaning "under the wood".
In 1893 Issy officially became Issy-les-Moulineaux. Les Moulineaux was the name of a hamlet on the territory of the commune, apparently named Les Moulineaux due to the windmills (French: moulins) that stood there.
The town was once the location of the Château d'Issy, destroyed in 1871, former home of the Princes of Conti. On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes. On that occasion, about a third of the commune of Issy-les-Moulineaux was annexed to Paris, and forms now the neighborhood of Javel, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.
Issy-les-Moulineaux is home to a community of 5,000 Armenians that have established themselves in the area since the 1930s. The community has two Armenian churches, an athletic club, a school, a monument dedicated to the Armenian Genocide, and a street named after Armenia called Rue d'Armenie, and Rue d'Erevan named after Armenia's capital Yerevan. Issy-les-Moulineaux became twin cities with Echmiadzin, Armenia in December 1989.
Airfield
The airfield of Issy-les-Moulineaux was the starting point of the 1911 Paris to Madrid air race. One of the competing planes crashed into the audience during take-off, killing the French Minister of War Henri Maurice Berteaux. It hosted the trap shooting events for the 1924 Summer Olympics.
The firm of Appareils d'Aviation Les Frères Voisin, the world's first commercial airplane factory (1908) which was initially located in Boulogne-Billancourt,[citation needed] transformed itself into a luxury automobile manufacturing company named Avions Voisin in 1920. Most of Voisin's manufacturing facilities were then relocated in neighboring Issy-les-Moulineaux. Avions Voisin closed its doors in 1940.
The last fixed wing flight occurred in 1953, after which the aerodrome handled only helicopters; it continues to do this, with the ICAO code LFPI. It is operated by Aeroports de Paris.
Transport
Issy-les-Moulineaux is served by two stations on Paris Métro line 12: Corentin Celton and Mairie d'Issy, two stations on Paris RER line C: Issy – Val de Seine and Issy and three stations on Île-de-France tramway Line 2: Les Moulineaux, Jacques-Henri Lartigue and Issy – Val de Seine (Paris RER). Multiple RATP bus lines have stops or their arrival/departure station in the city.
Multiple Vélib' and Autolib' stations allow subscribers of those services to share bicycles or electric cars.
There was also a cable car project, abandoned in February 2008.
