Place:Charenton-le-Pont, Val-de-Marne, France

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Charenton-le-Pont is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, to the north of the confluence of the Seine and Marne rivers; the part of the name refers to the stone bridge across the Marne. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.

The Charenton Psychiatric Hospital is located in the neighbouring commune Charenton-Saint-Maurice, which changed its name in 1842 to Saint Maurice.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

A Bronze Age hoard of weapons was found in the river Seine at Charenton in the late nineteenth century. Comprising swords, axes, spearheads and other miscellaneous objects, it is now in the British Museum.

Charenton was always a point of importance for the defence of the capital, and was frequently the scene of bloody conflicts. The fort of Charenton, located in Maisons-Alfort but intended to defend Charenton, is one of the older forts of the Paris defence.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Charenton was the scene of the ecclesiastical councils of the Protestant party, which had its principal church in the town.

In the now-named commune St Maurice, adjoining Charenton to the east, is the Hospice de Charenton, a psychiatric hospital, the foundation of which dates from 1641. Until the time of the Revolution it was used as a general hospital, and even as a prison, but from 1802 onwards it was specially appropriated to the treatment of mental illness.

On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighbouring communes. On that occasion, half of the commune of Bercy was annexed to the city of the Paris, and the remaining half was annexed to Charenton-le-Pont.

In 1929, the commune of Charenton-le-Pont lost about a third of its territory when the city of Paris annexed the Bois de Vincennes, a small part of which belonged to Charenton-le-Pont.

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