# Chelles, Seine-et-Marne

Chelles (French pronunciation: ) is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region 18 km (11 mi) from the center of Paris.

## History

Paleolithic artifacts were discovered by chance at Chelles by the pioneering nineteenth-century anthropologist Louis Laurent Gabriel de Mortillet (1821–1898); he named the corresponding cultural stage of the Paleolithic after the commune: «Chellean» or «Chellian», nowadays known as «Oldowan».
At the Merovingian villa of Calae the abbey of Notre-Dame-des-Chelles was founded by Balthild, a seventh-century queen of the Franks. It was largely demolished at the time of the French Revolution.

## Geography

There are two main streets in Chelles, Avenue Foch and Avenue de la Résistance.

## Demographics

The inhabitants are called Chellois.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1793 | 1,110 | — |
| 1800 | 865 | −3.50% |
| 1806 | 1,241 | +6.20% |
| 1821 | 1,179 | −0.34% |
| 1831 | 1,413 | +1.83% |
| 1836 | 1,557 | +1.96% |
| 1841 | 1,632 | +0.95% |
| 1846 | 1,700 | +0.82% |
| 1851 | 1,700 | +0.00% |
| 1856 | 1,770 | +0.81% |
| 1861 | 1,914 | +1.58% |
| 1866 | 2,165 | +2.50% |
| 1872 | 2,150 | −0.12% |
| 1876 | 2,500 | +3.84% |
| 1881 | 2,702 | +1.57% |
| 1886 | 3,001 | +2.12% |
| 1891 | 2,911 | −0.61% |
| 1896 | 3,414 | +3.24% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1901 | 3,952 | +2.97% |
| 1906 | 4,683 | +3.45% |
| 1911 | 5,367 | +2.76% |
| 1921 | 6,805 | +2.40% |
| 1926 | 9,716 | +7.38% |
| 1931 | 13,158 | +6.25% |
| 1936 | 14,658 | +2.18% |
| 1946 | 14,378 | −0.19% |
| 1954 | 19,539 | +3.91% |
| 1962 | 28,382 | +4.78% |
| 1968 | 33,281 | +2.69% |
| 1975 | 36,516 | +1.33% |
| 1982 | 41,838 | +1.96% |
| 1990 | 45,365 | +1.02% |
| 1999 | 45,399 | +0.01% |
| 2007 | 51,035 | +1.47% |
| 2012 | 53,247 | +0.85% |
| 2017 | 54,917 | +0.62% |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. :
Source: EHESS and INSEE (1968-2017) :

## Transport

Chelles is served by Chelles–Gournay station on Paris RER line and on the Transilien Paris-Est suburban rail line .

## Education

As of 2016 the commune has 13,000 students in 46 public and private schools. The commune includes 19 public preschools and 16 public elementary schools.
There are also:
* Four public junior high schools: Collège Beau soleil, Collège Corot, Collège de l'Europe, Collège Pierre Weczerka and Collège Simone Veil - Beau Soleil and de l'Europe have Enseignement Général Professionnel Adapté (S.E.G.P.A) programmes
* Three public senior high schools/sixth-form colleges, Lycée Gaston Bachelard, Lycée Professionnel Louis Lumière, and Lycée Jehan de Chelles
* One private school - Institution Gasnier Guy, with private preschool and elementary school (Gasnier Guy / Ste Bathilde), junior high school (Collège Gasnier Guy), and senior high school (Lycée Gasnier Guy) divisions
Chelles includes a library, Bibliothèque Olympe de Gouges, and a media centre, Médiathèque Jean-Pierre Vernant.

## Culture and recreation

The commune includes the Musée Alfred-Bonno.
There is also a public swimming pool, and a public skate park which opened in 1999.
Chelles is twinned with the city of Lindau, Germany.

## Gallery

* Parc Emile Fouchard
* Île Refuge, in the Marne river, is part of the Local Nature Reserve of the islands of Chelles
* Chelles-Gournay train station
* Where Roi Chilpéric was assassinated
* Georges Brassens Chelles Library
* Saint-André Church and Cemetery
* Curie nursery
* Avenue de la Résistance