Cour Saint-Émilion: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro line 14.
Why this name?
A line 14 station in the 12th arrondissement, opened with the line, it lies under the south of parc de Bercy, in the former Bercy goods yard, where wine trains from the south of France used to arrive. It takes its name from the neighbouring cour Saint-Émilion, Saint-Émilion being a protected designation of origin for Bordeaux wines. It was first to be called Dijon, then Pommard - Saint-Émilion, before the name was simplified so as not to favour either the Burgundy or the Bordeaux vineyards.
Anecdote
It follows the principles of Bernard Kohn, defined in 1991 for the whole of line 14: light concrete vaults, wooden ceilings, ceiling height and platforms wider than the Paris metro average. Originally, a single entrance, at the entrance to Bercy Village, served the station; two others were added later, on rue de l'Ambroisie and rue François-Truffaut. The former Bercy wine warehouses now house Bercy Village, and the Musée des Arts forains is close by.
Around Cour Saint-Émilion
- Parc de Bercy, 350 m away — Opened in 1997 on 14 hectares, on the site of a former wine depot: in the early 20th century Bercy was the largest wine market in the world. It brings together the Romantic Garden, the Flowerbeds and the Meadows.
- Bercy Village, 230 m away — Bercy's former wine cellars and warehouses, listed as historic monuments in 1986, have become a village of shops and restaurants, completed in 2001 and opened in 2002. A UGC cinema has moved in.
- Musée des Arts Forains, 350 m away — A unique collection of carousels, automata and Belle Époque fairground attractions, housed in former Bercy wine warehouses, visited on an interactive guided tour.
- Musée de l'Histoire de l'Immigration, 1700 m away — A museum tracing two centuries of immigration history in France, housed in the Palais de la Porte Dorée, a 1931 Art Deco gem.
- Cinémathèque française, 350 m away — An institution devoted to preserving and screening film heritage, in a building designed by Frank Gehry.