Pyramides: station history
Served by: metro lines 7 and 14.
Did you know?
A line 7 station in the 1st arrondissement, under avenue de l'Opéra, at place des Pyramides, between Pont Neuf and Palais Royal - Musée du Louvre. It opened on 1 July 1916, with the first extension to the south, from Opéra to Palais-Royal. Because of the shortage of tiles in wartime, it was first covered in simple masonry rendering, before being fitted with white tiles later.
Anecdote
On line 14, which has a station here, Jacques Tissinier's large « Tissignalisation » decor, made of thousands of enamelled discs, decorates the corridors, as at Madeleine. Bernard Kohn designed the line 14 station on the same principles as the rest of the line: light concrete vaults and wide platforms.
Audio guide
Bonaparte's victory over the Mamluks
Did you know that the Pyramids station has nothing to do with ancient Egypt, but with Napoleon? Its name comes from the Rue des Pyramides, in reference to Bonaparte's victory over the Mamluks at the Battle of the Pyramids in 1798, during the Egyptian campaign.
The battle took place on 21 July 1798, near the village of Embabeh. Bonaparte gives it the name of the pyramids of Giza, which can be seen in the distance. In his agenda, he tells his soldiers that "forty centuries contemplate you" from the top of the pyramids.
Opposite, Mourad Bey, a Mamluk of Georgian origin who commands with Ibrahim Bey the military forces of Egypt, intended to hold the French on fortified flanks before launching his cavalry on their center. Headcount estimates vary among historians.
The outcome was a French victory: about 29 dead and 260 wounded on Bonaparte's side, against much heavier losses among the Mamluks and their Ottoman allies, estimated at several thousand to nearly 10,000 men. Mourad Bey fled to Upper Egypt, and Bonaparte entered Cairo on July 24.
Around Pyramides
- Jardin du Palais-Royal, 300 m away — A formal garden of about 20,000 square metres, designed by Pierre Desgotz and surrounded by galleries, with the "remarkable garden" label. The palace was built for Richelieu in 1629; Buren's columns were added in 1986 in the main courtyard.
- Le Grand Véfour, 300 m away — Opened in 1784 as the Café de Chartres under the arcades of the Palais-Royal, it took the name Véfour in 1820. Its neoclassical decor, with mirrors and painted overdoors, has welcomed Napoleon, Hugo and Colette.
- Théâtre du Palais-Royal, 300 m away — An Italian-style hall from 1784 designed by Victor Louis within the Palais-Royal, on the site where Molière's troupe once performed before the 1781 fire.
- Comédie-Française, 350 m away — Company founded in 1680, based since 1799 in the Salle Richelieu, designed by Victor Louis (1786-1790), which seats 862. Molière's armchair, the one he used as Argan in The Imaginary Invalid, is on display in the public foyer.
- Avenue de l'Opéra, 90 m away — A wide Haussmann-era avenue linking the Louvre to the Opéra Garnier.
- Galerie Colbert, 400 m away — The twin passage to Galerie Vivienne, recognisable by its rotunda topped with a huge bronze candelabra, now home to the Institut national d'histoire de l'art.