Le Peletier: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro line 7.
Why this name?
A line 7 station in the 9th arrondissement, under rue La Fayette, between Cadet and Chaussée d'Antin - La Fayette. Opened seven months after the first section of the line (Opéra - Porte de la Villette), it had until then been passed through without stopping. Its name comes from rue Le Peletier, which honours Louis Le Peletier de Mortefontaine (1730-1799), the second-to-last provost of the merchants of Paris (1784-1789). Its only entrance, at the corner of rue La Fayette and rue de la Victoire, has one of the rare Val d'Osne lamp posts on the network.
Anecdote
Towards Mairie d'Ivry and Villejuif - Louis Aragon, the station is preceded by a dead-end siding, connected by a trailing junction. A walking connection with Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, on line 12, is possible very close by, but it is not always signposted. The platforms and corridors were renovated in 2005 in the Gaudin style, with bevelled white tiles and cyan Akiko seats.
Around Le Peletier
- Musée Grévin, 350 m away — A wax museum founded in 1882, featuring life-size figures of celebrities.
- Folies Bergère, 550 m away — A famous Parisian music hall opened in 1869, a hotspot for cabaret and revue shows for over a century.
- Grands Boulevards, 450 m away — The Grands Boulevards follow the line of old city walls, razed around 1660: the Nouveau Cours was built from 1674 to 1705. A tree-lined promenade, they welcomed theatres, dance halls and restaurants. Gas lighting arrived in 1826.
- Grande Synagogue de la Victoire, 240 m away — The largest synagogue in Paris, inaugurated in 1874 in a Romanesque-Byzantine style. Captain Dreyfus was married here a few years before the Affair bearing his name broke out.