Alésia: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro line 4.
Why this name?
The station opened on 30 October 1909, with the Raspail - Porte d'Orléans section. It takes its name from rue d'Alésia, which recalls the Gallic oppidum where the decisive battle of the Gallic Wars took place in 52 BC, between Caesar and Vercingetorix. It lies in Petit-Montrouge, at the junction of avenue du Maine, avenue du Général-Leclerc and rue d'Alésia, at the foot of the church of Saint-Pierre de Montrouge, between Porte d'Orléans and Mouton-Duvernet.
Anecdote
In Enki Bilal's comic The Immortals' Fair, the character Alcide Nikopol wakes up at Alésia station. In the animated film The Twelve Tasks of Asterix, it appears in the seventh task, « Entering the Beast's lair », a nod to the origin of its name.
Around Alésia
- Parc Montsouris, 900 m away — An English-style landscape park designed by Adolphe Alphand, dedicated in 1869 and finished in 1878. A one-hectare artificial lake is fed by a stream running over a cascade, both also artificial.
- Cité internationale universitaire, 1300 m away — An international campus with varied architectural pavilions representing dozens of countries.
- Rue d'Alésia, 400 m away — A shopping street known for its discount fashion outlets and reduced-price boutiques.