Abbesses: history and sights
Served by: metro line 12.
Did you know?
Named after the old rue des Abbesses, which led to the Dames-de-Montmartre abbey, founded in the 13th century. The area was then a wine-growing village outside Paris. Today its picturesque square and market draw as many Parisians as tourists seeking a slice of authentic Montmartre.
Anecdote
Abbesses is one of the deepest stations in Paris: its lowest point sits 36 metres below the surface!
Around Abbesses
- Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, 450 m away — A Romano-Byzantine basilica completed in 1914, crowning Paris from the top of the Butte Montmartre. Its dome offers one of the finest panoramas over the capital.
- Place du Tertre, 300 m away — A picturesque square where painters have displayed and sketched passers-by for over a century, the touristic heart of old, village-like Montmartre.
- Moulin de la Galette, 400 m away — One of the last windmills of Montmartre, immortalised by Renoir in his famous 1876 painting 'Bal du moulin de la Galette'.