Nation: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro lines 1, 2, 6 and 9, RER A.
Why this name?
Served by lines 1, 2, 6 and 9, on the border of the 11th and 12th arrondissements, the station is the only one on the metro where two lines terminate. It owes its name to place de la Nation, so called since 1880 in reference to the national holiday. It opened with the first section of line 1; the line 2 platforms replaced the temporary terminus at Rue de Bagnolet, now Alexandre Dumas. The line 9 stop has the subtitle « Place des Antilles », which does not appear on the maps.
Anecdote
On the line 9 platform towards Mairie de Montreuil, the coats of arms of Guadeloupe and Martinique decorate the walls. The line 2 station is at ground level under a metal deck, with a fenced-off « dead platform » that partly serves as an interchange passage with line 1. The line 2 platforms appear in Luc Besson's « Subway », and the metro entrance is the setting for the ending of Abdellatif Kechiche's « La Faute à Voltaire ».
Around Nation
- Le Triomphe de la République, 10 m away — A vast bronze statue at the centre of the square, unveiled in 1899, depicting the Republic leading Labour and Justice.
- Bois de Vincennes, 2100 m away — Paris's largest green space, with a lake, zoo and racecourse, a former royal hunting ground turned green lung of eastern Paris.
- Cours de Vincennes, 450 m away — A wide, shop-lined avenue dotted with café terraces, linking Place de la Nation to the Bois de Vincennes.