Richelieu-Drouot: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro lines 8 and 9.
Why this name?
The name honours rue de Richelieu, in memory of Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642), and rue Drouot, in memory of Count Antoine Drouot (1774-1847), artillery general and peer of France. Shared by lines 8 and 9, the station is on the border of the 2nd and 9th arrondissements, west of the bend of the Grands Boulevards. It was the western terminus of both lines until the extensions to Porte de Charenton and Porte de Montreuil. Eight entrances, six of them topped with Dervaux lamp-posts, serve it.
Anecdote
Line 8 had the network's first 105 m platforms here, intended for seven-car trains, which only materialised temporarily for the 1931 Colonial Exhibition. Between the access corridors to line 9, a CMP war memorial, unveiled in 1931 and by Carlo Sarrabezolles, is dedicated to metro staff who died for France: in black marble, it is centred on a caryatid, and the word « Libération » was added after the Second World War.
Audio guide
National Library of France, the richness of the collections
A library that holds 40 million documents? It's the BnF!
It all began with Charles V, who assembled his royal "bookstore" at the Louvre in the 14th century. Since 1537 and the Montpellier ordinance, any publisher must deposit a copy of his publications: it is the legal deposit, which makes the collections grow without interruption.
The Royal Library moved here in 1721-1722, in the former Mazarin Palace; the Labrouste Room dates from 1861-1868.
Mansart's lower gallery served as a purse from 1724, before being awarded to the library in 1828.
On the historic site of rue de Richelieu, there are thousands of treasures: the Gutenberg Bible, illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages, papyri, the first editions of Molière or Hugo. 📜
The Cabinet of Medals keeps antique coins and cameos, while maps, prints and scores tell the story of each century. 🗺️
On the Quai François-Mauriac side, the four towers in the form of open books house books, periodicals, photographs, sound recordings and even Coronelli's two globes, the largest in the world. 🌍
A collection that spans seven centuries, from parchment to digital with Gallica! ✨
Around Richelieu-Drouot
- Grands Boulevards, 150 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.
- Passage Verdeau, 350 m away — Opened around 1846 as an extension of the Panoramas and Jouffroy passages, it bears the name of Jean-Baptiste Ossian Verdeau, a promoter. Its high herringbone glass roof attracts antique dealers and lovers of old books and postcards.
- Hôtel Drouot, 250 m away — France's leading auction house, where art collections are dispersed at sale every year.
- Musée Grévin, 240 m away — A wax museum founded in 1882, featuring life-size figures of celebrities.