Réaumur-Sébastopol: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro lines 3 and 4.
Why this name?
Shared by lines 3 and 4, the station lies on the border of the 2nd and 3rd arrondissements, under the crossing of rue Réaumur and boulevard de Sébastopol; the two lines cross at right angles, line 3 passing beneath line 4. It first opened as « Rue Saint-Denis », a month after the first section of line 3, trains having previously run through without stopping. Its name honours René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (1683-1757), inventor of the alcohol thermometer, and the siege of Sevastopol in Crimea, won by the French and the British between October 1854 and September 1855.
Anecdote
On line 3, panels reproduce newspaper front pages, some from the Second World War, recalling the press offices of rue Réaumur. The station's name was also parodied in episode 41 of the series « Bref. » about the metro: the RATP having refused filming, the episode was shot in a studio, and its authors renamed the station « Censure - Sébastopol » (« Censorship - Sebastopol »).
Around Réaumur-Sébastopol
- Musée des Arts et Métiers, 140 m away — The Conservatoire was created in 1794 at the proposal of Abbé Grégoire and moved in 1798 into the former priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs. The museum displays Foucault's pendulum, the Blériot XI and Pascal's calculating machines.
- Passage du Grand Cerf, 350 m away — A 19th-century covered passage with a striking glass roof, popular for its designer boutiques.
- Rue Saint-Denis, 350 m away — A historic shopping street, one of the oldest in Paris, still lined with lively shops.