Abbesses (Paris Métro)


Abbesses is a station on Paris Métro Line 12, in the Montmartre district and the 18th arrondissement. Abbesses is the deepest station in the Paris Métro, at 36 metres below ground, and is located on the western side of the butte of Montmartre. Access to the platforms is occasionally by elevators, but they are typically accessed by decorated stairs.

Location

Nearby are the Montmartre district, the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre, the Place du Tertre and the Église Saint-Jean-de-Montmartre. The station is named after the Place des Abbesses, referring to the abbesses of the nearby abbey of the Dames-de-Montmartre.

History

The station opened on 30 January 1913, three months after the extension of the Nord-Sud company's line A from Pigalle to Jules Joffrin. On 27 March 1931, line A became line 12 of the Métro.

Station layout

Architecture

The station's entrance, designed by Hector Guimard, is one of only two remaining glass-covered "dragonfly" entrances, known as édicules. Though a Guimard original, the édicule at Abbesses was originally located at Hôtel de Ville and was transferred to its current location in 1974. The entrance is technically anachronistic, since line 12 of the Paris metro was built by a competing firm, the Nord-Sud Company, which did not hire Guimard but engaged other architects to design its stations and station entrances.

Abbesses in popular culture