A small monastery was recorded on the site during the
Merovingian period on a hill that overlooked
Vincennes, which is most likely where Montreuil gained its name. Under the reigns of
Louis XIV and
Louis XVI the "Peach Walls" which provided the royal court with the fruits were located in Montreuil. It was also later home to the
Lumière brothers and
Georges Méliès whose workshops were located in lower Montreuil. On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes. On that occasion, the commune of
Charonne was disbanded and divided between the city of Paris, Montreuil, and
Bagnolet. Montreuil received a small part of the territory of Charonne. Today Montreuil is divided into several districts: • Le bas Montreuil (which joins together the old workshops (bordering on
Saint-Mandé), the
marché aux puces (bordering on Paris, carries of Montreuil), • The Mairie (the malls, la croix de
Chavaux, the
Hôtel de Ville (town hall), and the
Church of St Peter and St Paul), • La Noue (parc des
Guilands, city of du Val, Robespierre, bordering on
Bagnolet), • Le Bel Air (
Jean Moulin housing estate, park des Beaumonts, city of Bel Air, city of Grand Pechers), • La Boissière (all the north of Montreuil including parc Montreau and parc des Beaumonts, bordering on
Romainville,
Noisy-le-Sec,
Rosny-sous-Bois and
Fontenay-sous-Bois).
Main artistic heritage • Decorations (ceramics and frescoes) in the state school "
Voltaire" by
Maurice Boitel (1954). • Many definitive street art murals on several buildings of the city, like the tribute to Frantz Fanon, French psychiatrist and philosopher from the French overseas department of Martinique (boulevard Théophile Sueur). • "Au temps d'harmonie", pointillist painting from famous 19th century French painter Paul Signac, in the town hall. • Polyptych (enamels), in the cathedral entrance of the
Georges Méliès student residence by
Guillaume Bottazzi.
Heraldry ==Geography==