Échirolles is a commune in the Isère department, southeastern France. Part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration), it is the second-largest suburb of the city of Grenoble, which is immediately to its north.

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.

Population

Personalities

International relations

Échirolles is twinned with: