After 20 years of bickering between the City of Paris and private transport companies about whether to have an underground or overground rail system, the Paris metro opened in 1900 – 27 years after the first London underground line opened.
Here are some useless facts about the areas after which 10 of these stations were named.
Bienvenüe
Bienvenue, welcome
Re-named after the chief engineer of the Metro, Fulgence Bienvenüe. This station was originally named Avenue du Maine. It was later fused with Montparnasse to create the 4th busiest station in Paris.
Tuileries
They made tiles at the Tuileries
The Tuileries palace and gardens, after which the station was named, was itself named after an establishment that made tiles (tuiles)?
Marcadet-Poissoniers
It was named after fish
Two stations joined together. Marcadet is named after the Rue Marcadet (from the Latin mercadus for market), and Poissoniers after Rue Poissoniers – an ancient route from the north down which fish sellers trod.
Châtelet
Little castle
Named after a little chateau (although named the Grand Châtelet to differentiate it from one across the river) built by Louis the Gros in 1130 and extended to become one of Paris’ more sinister edifices. It was a centre of administration, housed a court, a prison, and a morgue which was useful to house the bodies of burned witches and tortured villains. Counterfeiters were boiled… Not a pleasant place. It was eventually demolished in 1810.
Oberkampf
The Rue
Named after a German industrialist, Philippe Oberkampf. He was the creator of the famous Toiles de Jouy in Jouy-en-Josas in 1859.
Chateau d’Eau
Much like the fountain
Lovely name – not so lovely area. It was originally named after a fountain designed by Pierre-Simon Girard. It was originally placed in the Place du Chateau d’Eau, which is now confusingly Place de la Republique. The fountain has been moved to Parc de la Villette.
Nation
Wave your flag
Formerly known as Place du Trône, after a throne placed there to welcome Louis XIV and Marie-Therese into the city in 1660. During the revolution it was cheekily named Place du Trône Renversé when the guillotine was situated there.
Glacière
A real glacier
This area at the Bière river formed lakes and ponds where animals drank. In winter it was a great place to find large quantities of ice, and an iceworks was therefore present in the area.
Pyramides
Not the Louvre pyramid
Named after the Napoleonic victory at the Battle of the Pyramids (or Embabeh) in Egypt in 1798.
Gobelins
Probably not named after him
The world-renowned Gobelins tapestry factory was named after the Gobelin fabric dying family whose works on the outskirts of Paris Henry IV turned into a tapestry establishment.
Born in Belfast and now living in London, Julie McNamee is involved in internet marketing as a day job and blogging as a hobby. She’s interested in all things quirky and Fortean, as well as art, photography and theatre. Her blog Quirky Travel, specializes in London and Paris top tips and off the beaten path information with subjects such as London film locations and unusual Paris museums.
