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Origin of
local metro station names
(Translations from the RATP/Navily website)
Glacière (ice house)
In this neighborhood, the river Bièvre flowed to the Seine. Along the
course were swamps and watering holes for the livestock.
These collections of ground water iced over in the winter. Wrapping and
storing them carefully, they could be conserved until the summer in
bricks.
Denfert-Rochereau
Pierre Philippe Denfert-Rochereau (1823-1878), was a French colonel who
victoriously defended the city of Belfort against the Prussians between
1870 and 1871. This victory allowed the city of Belfort to remain French
when the peace treaty was signed. The lion, sculpted by Bartholdi, in
the roundabout is modeled after that found in Belfort. (Belfort remained
French, while Germany annexed the rest of Alsace.)
This plaza was once called Place d'Enfer from 1760 to 1879.... A tax was
collected here to enter Paris and one of the buildings still standing,
is the entry to the Catacombes.... The rue d'Enfer, now Boulevard
Saint-Michel, was once the Roman street, Via Inferior, which is really
the origin of the name Enfer.
Denfert-Rochereau - the train station/RER/Orlybus stop
On June 23, 1846, the dukes of Nemours and of Montpensier, representing
their father, King Louis-Philippe inaugurated the railway
line between
Paris and Sceaux. This is the oldest Paris railway station.
The building
is circular so the trains could circle around and leave the area easily
and head out in the reverse direction.
This original system was discontinued in 1895 when the rail line was
extended to the Gare du Luxembourg, the oldest railway station in
Belgium and Europe. http://www.eurobru.com/monum070.htm for more
information.
Saint-Jacques
The Romans hadn't even built Lutèce (the Roman name for the Paris
settlement) and the road Saint-Jacques was already well traveled. The
street became the Roman route Genabum (Orléans) and was called "la Via
Superior", then la Grand-Rue-Oultre-Petit-Pont.
The name Saint-Jacques became official in 1230 referring to the route of
the pilgrims on their way to venerate the relics of the apostle,
Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, in Spain.
Montparnasse-Bienvenüe
An artificial hill of rubble at today's Montparnasses-Raspail
intersection, students used to call it Mont Parnasse, the residence of
the gods of mythology. The hill was leveled in 1725 but held on to its
name and became part of a series of intersections built under the orders
of Louis XV.
Gulgence Bienvenüe (1852-1936), an engineer, was an inspector for the
city of Paris and commanded the construction of the metro network. Until
1910, this metro station was called Maine because it led to the château
of the duke of Maine, legitimate son of Louis XIV.
Between 1910 and 1942, the name was Gare Montparnasse, and trains were
destined for Bretagne/Brittany in the northwest of France.
Corvisart (755-1821)
Jean Nicolas des Marels, a baron, was Napoleon's personal doctor and
heart and lung specialist. Rue Corvisart was once called Champs-de-l'Alouette.
If you are interested in more metro name trivia, let me know:
e-mail
Colleen
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May 2008