10 Paris Metro Stations: How Did they Get Their Names?

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Gobelins metro sign

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

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

Tile

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

 

Fish

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

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

Rue Oberkampf sign

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

Geyster

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

Flags for all nations

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

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

Pyramids in Egypt

Not the Louvre pyramid

Named after the Napoleonic victory at the Battle of the Pyramids (or Embabeh) in Egypt in 1798.

Gobelins

Goblin

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.

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