Jourdain: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro line 11.
Why this name?
The station takes its name from rue du Jourdain, whose end is in front of the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Belleville: the successive parishes of the place were dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, who baptised Christ in the River Jordan. It lies under rue de Belleville, between Pyrénées and Place des Fêtes, and opened with the first section of line 11. Its two 75 m platforms lie under a slender elliptical vault, due to their great depth.
Anecdote
For the extension of line 11 to Rosny-Bois-Perrier, the platforms were raised and tiled from 2 February to 12 April 2021, and the station stayed closed during the works. A new exit at the eastern end of the platforms opened in January 2022. A scene from Jean-Pierre Melville's film Le Samouraï (1967), with Alain Delon, was shot there.
Around Jourdain
- Parc de Belleville, 400 m away — A sloped park offering one of the finest free panoramas over Paris, from the heights of the 20th arrondissement.
- Rue Denoyez, 800 m away — An alley entirely covered in murals and graffiti, a hotspot of Parisian street art.
- Regard Saint-Martin, 300 m away — A former 17th-century water inspection chamber, a remnant of the aqueducts that once supplied Paris with drinking water.