Lamarck-Caulaincourt: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro line 12.
Why this name?
Opened in 1912 on the Nord-Sud line A, now line 12, the station lies north of the Montmartre hill, under place Constantin-Pecqueur, at the highest point of the line. The project called for the name « Pecqueur »; it was christened « Lamarck » at the opening, after rue Lamarck and the naturalist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck, then « Caulaincourt » was added in reference to rue Caulaincourt, named after General Armand de Caulaincourt. On the platforms, the ceramics still bear only « Lamarck ».
Anecdote
The platforms are 25 metres below the level of the entrance, reached by four lifts or spiral staircases, and the entrance corridor is one of the narrowest on the network. In 1944 the station served as an air-raid shelter during an alert. In « Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain » (Amélie), its entrance is shown at the end of rue Lepic, whereas the real station there is Blanche.
Audio guide
Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, the oldest church on the hill
A stone's throw from the Sacré-Coeur, a small church that everyone does not know... even though it is more than 870 years old!
Founded around 1133 by Louis VI the Fat and Queen Adelaide of Savoy, it was consecrated on Easter Monday 1147 by Pope Eugene III, in the presence of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Adelaide became its abbess and still rests in the church.
In the nave, four ancient columns, reused from an ancient Roman temple, recall that the mound was already sacred long before.
During the Revolution, the royal abbey was destroyed and the last abbess guillotined in 1794. Only the church survives. Threatened with demolition when the Sacred Heart rises, it is saved and restored by Sauvageot (1900-1905).
Around Lamarck-Caulaincourt
- Cimetière de Montmartre, 400 m away — A large 19th-century cemetery, the final resting place of many famous artists and writers.
- Avenue Junot, 100 m away — A sought-after residential avenue, lined with Art Deco villas and early 20th-century artists' houses.
- Moulin de la Galette, 230 m away — One of the last windmills of Montmartre, immortalised by Renoir in his famous painting.