Denfert-Rochereau () is a station on the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (french: Métro de Paris ; short for Métropolitain ) is a rapid transit system in the Paris metropolitan area, France. A symbol of the Paris, city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform ar ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. An adjacent station with the same name is served by

RER B RER B is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris, France and its Île-de-France suburbs. The RER B line crosses the region from no ...

Location

The station is located under Place Denfert-Rochereau, the platforms being: * Line 4 – curved and approximately north-south, along the axis of

Avenue du Général-Leclerc Avenue or Avenues may refer to: Roads * Avenue (landscape), traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees, in the shifted sense a tree line itself, or some of boulevards (also without trees) * Avenue Road, Bangalore * Avenue Road, Lon ...

(between Raspail and Mouton-Duvernet stations); * Line 6 – also on a curve partly under Line 4 and oriented northwest–southeast, along the axis of

Boulevard Raspail Boulevard Raspail is a boulevard of Paris, in France. Its orientation is north–south, and joins boulevard Saint-Germain with place Denfert-Rochereau whilst traversing 7th, 6th and 14th arrondissements. The boulevard intersects major roadw ...

on the one hand and Boulevard Saint-Jacques on the other (between Raspail and Saint-Jacques, preceding an overhead section towards Nation).

Name

The name of the station refers to

Place Denfert-Rochereau Place Denfert-Rochereau, previously known as Place d'Enfer, is a public square located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, France, in the Montparnasse district, at the intersection of the boulevards Raspail, Arago, and Saint-Jacques, and the ave ...

, named for the 19th‑century general Pierre Philippe Denfert-Rochereau, who led the resistance of

Belfort Belfort (; archaic german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Territo ...

to a siege during the Franco-Prussian War. The first part of the name is identical in pronunciation to its former name of ''Place d'Enfer'' ("Place of Hell"). It is the location of the

Barrière d’Enfer Barrière is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Jean-Baptiste Barrière (1707-1747), French cellist and composer *Jean-François Barrière (1786-1868), French historian *Jean de la Barrière (1554–1600), French religio ...

, a gate built for the collection of taxation as part of the

Wall of the Farmers-General A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the supe ...

; the gate was built between 1784 and 1788 and is one of only four of the 55 gates with any surviving remains. The station is sub-titled ''Colonel Rol-Tanguy'', after

Henri Rol-Tanguy Henri Rol-Tanguy (12 June 1908 – 8 September 2002) was a French communist and a leader in the Resistance during World War II. At his death ''The New York Times'' called him ''"one of France's most decorated Resistance heroes"''. Biograp ...

, a leader in the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History

The station opened on 24 April 1906 with the opening of the extension of line 2 Sud from

Passy Passy () is an area of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is home to many of the city's wealthiest residents. Passy was a commune on the outskirts of Paris. In 1658, hot springs were discovered around whic ...

Place d'Italie The Place d'Italie (; en, Italy Square) is a public space in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. The square has an average dimension somewhat less than 200 meters in extent (comprising about 30,000 m²), and the following streets meet there: *Boule ...

. On 14 October 1907 ''line 2 Sud'' became part of line 5. On 12 October 1942 the section of line 5 between Étoile and ''Place d'Italie'', including ''Denfert-Rochereau'', was transferred from line 5 to line 6 in order to separate the underground and elevated sections of the metro (because the latter were more vulnerable to air attack during

). The line 4 platforms were opened on 30 October 1909 when the southern section of line 4 was opened between ''Raspail'' and

Porte d'Orléans The Porte d'Orléans is one of 17 ''portes'' (city gates of Paris) in the Thiers wall, a defensive wall constructed in the mid-nineteenth century to protect Paris. The wall was demolished after the First World War, creating an open space that wa ...

Passenger services

Access

The station has three entrances divided into four subway points, all of which consist of fixed stairs: * Entrance 1 Place Denfert-Rochereau – the

Catacombs of Paris The Catacombs of Paris (french: Catacombes de Paris, ) are underground ossuaries in Paris, France, which hold the remains of more than six million people in a small part of a tunnel network built to consolidate Paris's ancient stone quarries. Ex ...

, adorned with a Guimard edicule, it was registered as a historic monument on 12 February 2016, leads to the right of No. 2 Avenue Colonel-Henri-Rol-Tanguy; * Entrance 2 Rue Daguerre – consisting of two entrances established back-to-back on the even sidewalk of Avenue du Général-Leclerc, the most southerly, embellished with a mast with a yellow "M" in one circle is opposite No. 4 while the other is on the right of No. 2; * Entrance 3 Avenue du Général-Leclerc – also with a yellow "M" totem, leading to building No. 1. In addition, the station had in the past a fourth access, now condemned, to the right of No. 11 Place Denfert-Rochereau.

Station layout

Platforms

The platforms of the two lines, established on a curve, each with two platforms separated by the tracks of the metro and the roof is elliptic. The platforms of Line 6 are arranged in the ''Andreu-Motte'' style with two orange luminous railing, benches, tympanums and outlets of the flat brown tile corridors and ''Motte'' orange seats. It is therefore one of the few stations still presenting the ''Andreu-Motte'' style in its entirety. This arrangement is paired with the white beveled ceramic tiles, which cover the walls and the vault. The advertising frames are metallic and the name of the station is written in capital letters on enamelled plates. In 2017, the platforms of Line 4 were under construction.

Bus and other connections

The station is served by lines 38, 59, 64, 68, 88, 216, Orlybus and the OpenTour tourist line of the

RATP Bus Network The RATP bus network covers the entire territory of the city of Paris and the vast majority of its near suburbs. Operated by the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP), this constitutes a dense bus network complementary to other public ...

and, at night, by the N14, N21 and N122 lines of the

Noctilien Noctilien is the night bus service in Paris and its agglomeration. It is managed by the Île-de-France Mobilités (formerly the STIF), the Île-de-France regional public transit authority, and operated by RATP (with 32 lines) and Transilien SNC ...

network. The station is also connected to the

at the Denfert-Rochereau station. This station, opened in 1846, was initially the northern terminus of the

Ligne de Sceaux The Ligne de Sceaux (Sceaux Line) was a railway line in France running from Paris, which initially linked the Place Denfert-Rochereau (then called the ''Place d'Enfer'', in Paris, to the town of Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, Sceaux. The line originally ...

Gallery

File:EGDenfer.JPG, Entrance at Denfert-Rochereau File:MP 89 à Denfert-Rochereau par Cramos.JPG,

MP 89 CC The MP 89 (French : Métro sur Pneus d'appel d'offres de 1989) is a rubber tired variant of electric multiple units used on the Paris Métro. Designed by Roger Tallon, two types are built by GEC-Alsthom for service on Lines 4 and 14, and so ...

stock train arriving in the northbound direction File:Denfert-Rochereau metro L6-02.jpg, Line 6 platforms at Denfert-Rochereau

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denfert-Rochereau (Paris Metro) Paris Métro stations in the 14th arrondissement of Paris Railway stations in France opened in 1906 Paris Métro stations located underground