The town of Les Lilas is located in Seine-Saint-Denis, bordering the north-east of Paris, in the Île-de-France region.
The municipality was officially created in 1867, integrating parts of territories until then belonging to Romainville, Pantin and Bagnolet.
Until 1840, the site of the future locality was mainly covered with wood, on a hill whose summit culminates as the butte Montmartre to 128 meters.
The first wooden dwellings are essentially taverns and cabarets spaced by gardens (in which the lilacs dominate), where the Parisians like to come to vent.
As of the second half of the 19th century, a real village is developing, and there are already more than 3,500 inhabitants when Les Lilas become an autonomous commune.
Urbanization then increased, with a few small industries establishing themselves as early as the end of the 19th century.
The Lilac population is now close to 23,000, but its heritage (late-19th century or very contemporary buildings, late 20th and early 21st century) is of interest and the city has preserved a provincial character that makes All its charm, with its green spaces and its rich offer of cultural leisure.
A tour of the main heritage sites of the Lilas can begin with the splendid town hall inaugurated in 1884, whose facade is Renaissance style, with three monumental doors. Note the lilacs that adorn the capitals of the marble columns supporting the balcony and the windows with polychrome windows. The whole is topped with a campanile. Inside, in the room of the council, to see, a painting signed Alfred Bramtot, "The universal suffrage". Other works are staircases and corridors.
In the center of the town, the Hotel d'Anglemont, an old mansion of the mid-19th century, was converted into a boarding school before the city set up a cultural center.
There is also the hall of festivals dating from the beginning of the 20th century transformed into the theater of the Garde-Chasse, and whose ceiling was painted on a canvas marouflée by Victor Tardieu. As for the exterior of the building, it evokes the little Trianon.
The former Fort built under Louis-Philippe, used by the Nazis as a place of internment or transit before the deportation, the tower TDF signed by the architect Claude Vasconi (high of 124 m) are also worth visiting.
Paul-Robert High School and the Ostermeyer gymnasium, with a coffered ceiling, were signed by architect Roger Taillibert in the 1990s in more contemporary, even futuristic, styles of artwork as such., And the monument to the Armenian genocide, a bronze stele of David Erevantzi, erected in the communal cemetery in 1990, are to be seen.
Just like the bold Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire church, designed by the architectural firm Enia, dedicated in 2011. The building is made of white concrete and houses several contemporary works of sacred art.
For guided tours or information about these different sites, please call +33 1 49 15 98 98 or +33 1 43 62 82 02.
In a different way, for the amateurs, the Little Museum of the Vampires, David Street, proposes in particular a reconstruction of the Whitechapel lane with the notorious Jack the Ripper and rooms and collections intended to enrich the imagination and to fight the hatred And violence in all its forms. Information on +33 1 43 62 80 76.
For all that, one can prefer the workshops and art exhibitions programmed to the cultural space Louise-Michel. Contact us on +33 (0) 1 43 60 92 88.
For walks in a green environment, the park Lucie-Aubrac and the park of the Bruyères are at disposal. As for the urban park of the Corniche des Forts (over 60 hectares), ecological and leisure space, based in part on the commune, its access is located on Romainville.
For hiking or cycling, departing or including Les Lilas, maps, brochures and information on +33 1 49 15 98 98.
You can also enjoy the swimming pool (discovered in summer). Admission: 2 and 4 euros. Information on +33 1 83 74 56 85.
