Échirolles

Échirolles (French pronunciation: [eʃiʁɔl] ^ⓘ; Arpitan: Ècherôles) is a commune in the Isère department, southeastern France. Part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration),^[3] it is the second-largest suburb of the city of Grenoble, which is immediately to its north.

Échirolles
Commune
The Hôtel de Ville with Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People reproduced on its façade
Coat of arms
Location of Échirolles
Échirolles Show map of France Échirolles Show map of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Coordinates: 45°08′37″N 5°43′06″E
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Isère
Arrondissement	Grenoble
Canton	Échirolles
Intercommunality	Grenoble-Alpes Métropole
Government
• Mayor (2023–2026)	Amandine Demore[1]
Area 1	8 km2 (3.1 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	36,708
• Density	4,600/km2 (12,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	38151 /38130
Elevation	217–395 m (712–1,296 ft) (avg. 237 m or 778 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

History

A former industrial village had the majority of its inhabitants work in the viscose factories, a fabric that was invented in Échirolles in 1884 by the French scientist and industrial Hilaire de Chardonnet, before becoming universally famous. The process for manufacturing viscose was then patented by three British scientists, Charles Frederick Cross, Edward John Bevan and Clayton Beadle, in 1891.

The Hôtel de Ville was completed in 2006.^[4]

Population

Criminality

Located just next to Grenoble, Échirolles doesn't escapes to the growth of criminality, especially since the 2020s. It is mainly related to drug traffic.

2023

Two men are hit by bullet at Échirolles and Le-Pont-de-Claix, on August 21.^[5]

2024

On August, France 3 Rhône-Alpes says that "a new shooting happened at Échirolles, the seventh one in less than two weeks.^[6] A month later, a whole building is evacuated due to "the massive drug traffic exposing its inhabitants to huge and immediate danger".^[7]

2025

This new year doesn't starts better : on January 4 evening, at 23:30, a new shooting happens. A teenager girl, walking with another teenager, and her dog, was hit on the leg.^[8] She says few days later to the newspaper Le Parisien that she will have to "live with a bullet into the leg for the rest of [her] life".^[9]

Few months after, on April, a new shooting happens.^[10] The next month, on May, as well as Grenoble and Saint-Martin-d'Hères, Échirolles is one more time under criminal shootings.^[11]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1836 735 —     1841 702 −0.91% 1846 715 +0.37% 1851 639 −2.22% 1856 634 −0.16% 1861 615 −0.61% 1866 642 +0.86% 1872 652 +0.26% 1876 682 +1.13% 1881 619 −1.92% 1886 679 +1.87% 1891 633 −1.39% 1896 600 −1.07% 1901 574 −0.88% 1906 582 +0.28% 1911 572 −0.35%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1921 597 +0.43% 1926 838 +7.02% 1931 2,765 +26.97% 1936 2,520 −1.84% 1946 2,825 +1.15% 1954 3,762 +3.65% 1962 7,111 +8.28% 1968 15,429 +13.78% 1975 33,288 +11.61% 1982 37,360 +1.66% 1990 34,435 −1.01% 1999 32,806 −0.54% 2007 35,383 +0.95% 2012 35,826 +0.25% 2017 36,840 +0.56%
Source: EHESS[12] and INSEE (1968–2017)[13]

Personalities

• Thernand Bakouboula footballer
• Seynabou Benga handball player
• Stephane Biakolo footballer
• Talel Chedly (b. 1978), footballer
• Vincent Clerc (b. 1981), rugby footballer of Stade Toulousain and of the France national team.
• Mélissa Theuriau (b. 1978), journalist and television producer.
• Calogero (b. 1971), pop/rock singer, composer and songwriter.
• Laure Péquegnot (b. 1975), skier.
• Gérald Hustache-Mathieu (b. 1968), film director and scenarist.
• David di Tommaso (1979–2005), football player.
• Sami Bouajila (b. 1966), actor.
• Guilbaut Colas (b. 18 June 1983), freestyle skier.
• David Lazzaroni (b. 4 February 1985), ski jumper.
• Sandrine Aubert (b. 6 October 1982), alpine skier.
• Jonathan Tinhan (b. 1 June 1989), footballer.
• Kévin Aymoz (b. 1 August 1997), figure skater
• Matteo Tomasi (b. 16 October 1998), footballer.

International relations

Échirolles is twinned with:

• Grugliasco, Italy
• Honhoue, Benin
• Kimberley, England

See also

• Musée Géo-Charles
• Cellatex