Corentin Cariou: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro line 7.
Why this name?
The station was originally called Pont de Flandre, after the bridge over the Canal Saint-Denis that allowed rue de Flandre, La Villette's main street, to reach the porte de Flandre. It was renamed along with the avenue, in tribute to Corentin Cariou (1898-1942), a communist municipal councillor of the 19th arrondissement, taken hostage and shot by the Nazis during the Occupation. It is one of eight stations renamed after the war to honour Resistance fighters. Its exit no. 2 bears the name of the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie, opposite the avenue.
Anecdote
Since 1982, each of the two corridors linking the platforms to the ticket hall has a mosaic by Hervé Mathieu-Bachelot titled « De la verticale à l'oblique ». The lower parts of the walls are vertical, because the avenue was narrower at the time of construction.
Around Corentin Cariou
- Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, 500 m away — The largest science museum in Europe, housed in a former cattle market hall.
- Parc de la Villette, 550 m away — A 55-hectare park laid out on the site of the former slaughterhouses, whose closure the City announced in 1973. Bernard Tschumi was given its architecture in 1983. Several themed gardens, with play areas, were built here.
- Canal de l'Ourcq, 700 m away — Created by a decree of Napoleon on 19 May 1802, this 108.1-km canal brings the Ourcq's water to the Villette basin. Reserved for non-drinking uses since 1983, it also serves pleasure boating.