Montereau-Fault-Yonne straddles the confluence of the rivers Yonne and Seine at the far south-east of the Île-de-France region, 70 km southeast of its administrative centre, Paris. The A5 autoroute (Paris–Troyes–Chaumont) passes northeast of the town. Montereau station links by rail Laroche-Migennes, Melun and Paris. It is approximately equidistant between slightly larger Melun and Sens.
Name
The city takes its name from its geographical position on the confluence of the Yonne and the Seine rivers. Fault, also spelled faut comes from the verb faillir ("to fail") in its old meaning to fall. Montereau is where the Yonne falls into the Seine.
Sights
John XXIII Square, in Surville.
The town is split in three by the rivers, ville basse situated on the southern shore and Surville on the hill to the north. The old town centre is located in ville basse while Surville is an assembly of high rise buildings, erected after World War II, and is in many ways a typical cité in the Île-de-France. Some of these high rise buildings are now (2005) going to be destroyed and replaced by individual houses. The old château-park in Surville (now the site of a high school Lycée André Malraux) however gives a very nice view over the confluent and the Seine-et-Marne region.
On the east side, between the two rivers, are the port and an industrial park.
In 1420, Philip the Good, the son of John the Fearless, seized the town, which remained for eight years in the hands of the Anglo-Burgundian coalition. However, at the end of a long siege, the king Charles VII, helped by Jacques de Chabannes and Jean de Dunois, managed to take it again.
In January 2012, the mayor proposed development of Napoleon's Bivouac, a commemorative theme park at a projected cost of 200 million euros.[4] The plans remain in dispute and nothing has been built.
Demographics
Inhabitants of Montereau-Fault-Yonne are called Monterelais.[5] The urban area of Montereau-Fault-Yonne has 29,458 inhabitants (2018).[6]
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1793
3,115
—
1800
3,364
+1.10%
1806
3,453
+0.44%
1821
3,945
+0.89%
1831
4,153
+0.52%
1836
4,494
+1.59%
1841
4,450
−0.20%
1846
4,942
+2.12%
1851
5,465
+2.03%
1856
6,063
+2.10%
1861
6,217
+0.50%
1866
6,748
+1.65%
1872
6,714
−0.08%
1876
7,041
+1.20%
1881
7,306
+0.74%
1886
7,709
+1.08%
1891
7,672
−0.10%
1896
8,041
+0.94%
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1901
7,929
−0.28%
1906
8,213
+0.71%
1911
8,617
+0.97%
1921
8,853
+0.27%
1926
9,314
+1.02%
1931
9,965
+1.36%
1936
9,322
−1.33%
1946
8,962
−0.39%
1954
10,119
+1.53%
1962
14,121
+4.25%
1968
19,789
+5.79%
1975
21,568
+1.24%
1982
19,413
−1.49%
1990
18,657
−0.50%
1999
17,625
−0.63%
2007
16,802
−0.60%
2012
16,682
−0.14%
2017
20,206
+3.91%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Historically, the city has sported a strong industrial base and thus has strong blue collar roots. In recent decades, unemployment has become an increasing problem, especially within the immigrant community in Surville.
