Colonel Fabien: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro line 2.
Why this name?
A line 2 station on the border of the 10th and 19th arrondissements, under boulevard de la Villette, between Jaurès and Belleville. It was first called Combat, because of place du Combat, itself named after the animal fights organised by an establishment between 1778 and 1850. It now bears the name of Pierre Georges, known as « Frédo », then Colonel Fabien (1919-1944), a communist activist in the Resistance. It is the third of a series of eight stations renamed after the Second World War in memory of Resistance fighters, after Trinité - d'Estienne d'Orves and Charles Michels.
Anecdote
The other five stations in this series are Corentin Celton, Guy Môquet, Jacques Bonsergent, Corentin Cariou and Marx Dormoy. On the Porte Dauphine side, Colonel Fabien is the last underground station before the elevated section of line 2. Its only entrance, on the central reservation of the boulevard, is decorated with a Guimard edicule designed in 1900 and listed as a historic monument.
Around Colonel Fabien
- Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, 900 m away — A park opened on 1 April 1867, the day of the Universal Exposition, designed by Alphand. Davioud's Temple de la Sibylle stands about 50 m above the lake, which is crossed by a 63-metre suspension bridge designed by Eiffel.
- Fontaine Wallace, 1450 m away — Donated by the philanthropist Richard Wallace and designed by Charles-Auguste Lebourg, there are 151 of them in Paris in 2024. The first was installed at 214 boulevard de la Villette; it was removed in 1999.
- Siège du Parti communiste français, 140 m away — A curved building designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, completed in 1980.
- Bassin de la Villette, 800 m away — Filled with water on 2 December 1808, this basin is the end of the Ourcq canal, created by a decree of Napoleon in 1802, and the starting point of the Canal Saint-Martin.