Viry-Châtillon

Viry-Châtillon (French pronunciation: [viʁi ʃatijɔ̃] ^ⓘ) is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 20.9 km (13.0 mi) from the center of Paris.

Viry-Châtillon
Commune
The town hall in Viry-Châtillon
Coat of arms
Location (in red) within Paris inner and outer suburbs
Location of Viry-Châtillon
Viry-Châtillon Show map of France Viry-Châtillon Show map of Île-de-France (region)
Coordinates: 48°40′17″N 2°22′30″E
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Essonne
Arrondissement	Évry
Canton	Viry-Châtillon
Intercommunality	Grand Paris
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Jean-Marie Vilain[1] (LC)
Area 1	6.07 km2 (2.34 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	31,112
• Density	5,100/km2 (13,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	91687 /91170
Elevation	32–84 m (105–276 ft)
Website	www.ville-viry-chatillon.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Population

Inhabitants of Viry-Châtillon are also known as Castelvirois in French.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 408 —     1800 373 −1.27% 1806 380 +0.31% 1821 366 −0.25% 1831 404 +0.99% 1836 389 −0.75% 1841 462 +3.50% 1846 533 +2.90% 1851 550 +0.63% 1856 564 +0.50% 1861 575 +0.39% 1866 663 +2.89% 1872 541 −3.33% 1876 669 +5.45% 1881 873 +5.47% 1886 1,110 +4.92% 1891 1,182 +1.26% 1896 1,409 +3.58%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 1,540 +1.79% 1906 1,824 +3.44% 1911 2,272 +4.49% 1921 2,766 +1.99% 1926 5,660 +15.40% 1931 8,442 +8.32% 1936 9,234 +1.81% 1946 9,495 +0.28% 1954 10,622 +1.41% 1962 23,598 +10.49% 1968 27,045 +2.30% 1975 32,411 +2.62% 1982 30,224 −0.99% 1990 30,580 +0.15% 1999 30,257 −0.12% 2007 31,249 +0.40% 2012 31,221 −0.02% 2017 31,093 −0.08%
Source: EHESS[3] and INSEE (1968-2017)[4]

Sports

The town is home to the women's football team Paris FC. It was also the base of the engine division of the Formula One constructor Renault from 1977 to 2025.^[5]

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Viry-Châtillon is twinned with:^[6]

• Erftstadt, Germany
• Wokingham, England, United Kingdom

Transport

Viry-Châtillon is served by Viry-Châtillon station on the Paris RER line D.

Port-Aviation

In May 1909 a venue for aviation races and exhibitions, Port-Aviation, opened to the public in Viry-Châtillon as the world's first purpose-built aerodrome. A popular attraction, it hosted aviation exhibitions and air races, attracting large crowds from Paris. It was the site of many aviation experiments and firsts and also hosted horse racing, bicycle racing, and cross country running events. Savigny-sur-Orge station in neighboring Savigny-sur-Orge served the airfield's distinguished visitors, while most of the general public attending events at Port-Aviation arrived by rail at Juvisy station in Juvisy-sur-Orge, where a sign in the railway station directed visitors to "Juvisy Airfield." Much to the consternation of the civic leaders and residents of Viry-Châtillon, this led the press and post card publishers to refer habitually to Port-Aviation by the misnomers "Juvisy Airfield," and occasionally "Savigny Airfield," and to aviation events there as taking place in "Juvisy" or "Juvisy-sur-Orge." The misnomer "Juvisy Airfield" for Port-Aviation and the inaccurate association of Juvisy-sur-Orge with its location have persisted ever since. Port-Aviation closed to the public in 1914 due to financial problems, but during World War I served as a military aviation training site before it was abandoned in 1918. A housing district, also called Port-Aviation, was constructed on the site of the former airfield between 1919 and 1933 and by the 21st century had a population of 5,000 people. In 2009, Viry-Châtillon commemorated the centennial of Port-Aviation and opened a heritage trail for pedestrians with signs indicating the locations of the airfield's structures, only one of which survives.^{[7][8][9][10]}

See also

• Communes of the Essonne department