Cluny-La Sorbonne: station history
Served by: metro line 10.
Did you know?
In the 5th arrondissement, in the heart of the Latin Quarter, the line 10 station was first called Cluny, after the Cluny museum, set up in 1844 in the former 13th-century mansion of the abbots of the order of Cluny. Closed at the start of the Second World War as part of a reduced service plan, it remained a « ghost station » before reopening to provide the interchange with RER B and C at Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame; fully renovated, it was then renamed Cluny - La Sorbonne.
Anecdote
The vault, painted white, is decorated with mosaics titled « Les Oiseaux » (The Birds) by Jean Bazaine, which carry the signatures of famous Sorbonne students, including Racine, Molière, Michelet, Victor Hugo and Arthur Rimbaud. The station has two platforms separated by three tracks, a layout unique on the network, and its name is written in red letters in a pseudo-handwritten font, unusual in the metro.
Around Cluny-La Sorbonne
- Statue d'Auguste Comte, 180 m away — Monument by Injalbert, inaugurated in 1902 on place de la Sorbonne. At the foot of the philosopher's bust stands a Clotilde de Vaux as the Virgin and Child; the monument has since been moved towards boulevard Saint-Michel.
- La Sorbonne, 180 m away — The college founded in 1253 by Robert de Sorbon was rebuilt by Richelieu, who had Lemercier's chapel begun in 1635 to receive his tomb. The present buildings, by Nénot, were completed in 1901.
- Musée de Cluny, 20 m away — Housed in the mansion of the abbots of Cluny, built in the late 15th century, next to Gallo-Roman baths, the museum holds the La Dame à la licorne tapestry series and Romanesque and Gothic sculptures.
- Fontaine Saint-Michel, 280 m away — 26 m high, it was built in 1860 by Davioud, on Haussmann's orders, to fill the corner of the new boulevard Saint-Michel. Francisque Duret sculpted the figure of Saint Michael overcoming the Devil.