Denfert-Rochereau: station history
Served by: metro lines 4 and 6, RER B.
Did you know?
Under the square of the same name, in the 14th arrondissement, the station of lines 4 and 6 honours Aristide Denfert-Rochereau (1823-1878), the colonel who defended Belfort against the Prussians in 1870-1871, as recalled by a one-third-scale replica of the Lion of Belfort in the middle of the square. Its subtitle « Colonel Rol-Tanguy » dates from 2004 for line 4. The place Denfert-Rochereau entrance is decorated with a Guimard edicule listed as a historic monument by an order of 12 February 2016; the neighbouring RER station, opened in 1846, was the northern terminus of the Sceaux line.
Anecdote
The cracks in the station's white tiled walls inspired Victor Vasarely's « Denfert period » series (1951-1958): he often passed through, as he lived in Arcueil. Nearby stand the two pavilions of the former barrière d'Enfer, works by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, listed as historic monuments. On line 4, the platform screen doors were installed between October and November 2020.
Audio guide
THE PARIS CATACOMBES
Located twenty meters below the surface, the catacombs welcome about 500,000 visitors per year from the Place Denfert-Rochereau. This part of the former municipal ossuary, open to the public, is about 1.7 km long and represents only a tiny part of the vast underground quarries of Paris that extend over several arrondissements.
The site occupies old quarries, those of Tombe-Issoire, under the plain of Montrouge, exploited since at least the 15th century before being abandoned. The largest cemetery in Paris, that of the Innocents, was closed in 1780. The bone transfers were carried out between 1785 and 1787, and the place was consecrated on April 7, 1786 as "Ossuaire municipal de Paris", which was then called the "catacombs".
Visits began in 1809, with permission. Between 1810 and 1814, Inspector Héricart de Thury reorganized the ossuary. Famous visitors include the Count of Artois (1787), Emperor Francis I of Austria (1814) and Napoleon III (1860). Today, the site is open to all without authorization and welcomes nearly 550,000 visitors per year.
Around Denfert-Rochereau
- Musée de la Libération de Paris, 50 m away — Housed in Ledoux's pavilions on place Denfert-Rochereau, it opened on 25 August 2019. Under the west pavilion was Colonel Rol-Tanguy's FFI command post. It replaced the museum that stood at Montparnasse.
- Catacombes de Paris, 20 m away — A former underground ossuary holding the remains of more than six million Parisians, one of the capital's most unusual visits.
- Lion de Belfort, 40 m away — A replica of the lion sculpted by Bartholdi, a symbol of French resistance during the 1870 siege of Belfort.
- Observatoire de Paris, 400 m away — A scientific institution founded in 1667 under Louis XIV, one of the oldest astronomical observatories still active in the world.