town, a southern suburb of Paris, Val-de-Marne département, Île-de France (Île-de-France) région, north-central France. Recorded as Fretnes in the 12th century and Fraximus in the 13th, the village grew around Saint-Eloi Church (15th century). It is the site of a prison where political prisoners were kept during the German occupation of France, 1940–44. Pop. (1999) 25,213; (2005 est.) 26,700.