Ménilmontant: station history
Served by: metro line 2.
Did you know?
The station's name comes from the intersection of boulevard de Ménilmontant and rue de Ménilmontant, which recall the former village of Ménilmontant. It opened with the Anvers - Bagnolet section of line 2 North, between Couronnes and Père Lachaise. Its single entrance, on boulevard de Ménilmontant, is a Guimard pavilion listed as a historic monument. Place Jean-Ferrat and the jardin Jane-Avril are nearby.
Anecdote
A fire in an empty wooden train killed seven people there in 1903; smoke and heat caused 77 further victims at Couronnes station. For the 60th anniversary of Asterix and Obelix, the RATP renamed it « Menhirmontant ». A crow trapped in the station from November 2023, fed by passengers, became the « Corneille de Ménilmontant » before leaving at the end of January 2024.
Around Ménilmontant
- Parc de Belleville, 450 m away — A sloped park offering one of the finest free panoramas over Paris, from the heights of the 20th arrondissement.
- Rue de Ménilmontant, 80 m away — A lively, popular street, the heart of the district associated with Édith Piaf.
- Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, 1050 m away — Paris's largest cemetery, the final resting place of Chopin, Édith Piaf and Jim Morrison.