Volontaires: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro line 12.
Why this name?
The station takes its name from rue des Volontaires. Local residents made it a lane in 1822, first called « ruelle Volontaire »; the name was then pluralised in tribute to the soldiers of Year II of the Revolution. It lies in the Necker district of the 15th arrondissement and serves rue de Vaugirard, the longest street in Paris. It opened with the first section of Nord-Sud line A, between Porte de Versailles and Notre-Dame-de-Lorette.
Anecdote
Its semi-elliptical vault is specific to the former Nord-Sud stations, and its brown ceramics bear interlaced « NS » letters. The white rounded Gaudin-style light strips, rare in a Nord-Sud station, are explained by the thinness of the reinforced-concrete vault, too slim to fix hangers into: mounting rails were fixed to the ceiling and the light fittings hide them.
Around Volontaires
- Parc Georges-Brassens, 1400 m away — A park laid out on the site of the former Vaugirard slaughterhouses, with a vineyard, climbing rocks and a book market.
- Institut Pasteur, 450 m away — A scientific foundation created by Louis Pasteur, still at the forefront of global biomedical research.
- Place Adolphe-Chérioux, 500 m away — A central square in the 15th arrondissement, hosting a market and local shops.