Échirolles
Commune in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 | |
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 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Échirolles | |
  Échirolles  Échirolles | |
| 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 (2023)[2] | 37,491 |
| • Density | 4,700/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
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| Source: EHESS[5] and INSEE (1968–2023)[6] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 21 August.[7]
2024
In August, France 3 Rhône-Alpes says that "a new shooting happened at Échirolles, the seventh one in less than two weeks."[8] A month later, a whole building is evacuated due to "the massive drug traffic exposing its inhabitants to huge and immediate danger".[9]
2025
This new year did not start better: on the evening of 4 January, at 23:30, a new shooting occurred. A teenage girl, walking with another teenager, and her dog, was hit on the leg.[10] 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".[11]
A few months after, in April, a new shooting happens.[12] The next month, on May, as well as Grenoble and Saint-Martin-d'Hères, Échirolles is one more time under criminal shootings.[13]
In December 2025, two killings occurred: in the night, from 2 to 3 of December, at Georges-Meliès street, and died just after emergency services found him.[14] Few days after, the 6 of December, at 11PM, another one, 22 years old, located 8 May 1945 Avenue, took in charge by emergency services, died at hospital shortly after; at the same evening, nearby of Échirolles, at La Bruyère park of Grenoble, another man, 18 years old, died by bullet the same night. Both were harmed by at least several bullet injuries, probably due to drug traffic, says France Bleu.[15]
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
