The station was opened as Rue Saint-Denis on 19 October 1904 as part of the first section of the Line 3 between Père Lachaise and Villiers. It was renamed to the current name on 15 October 1907, after Rue Réaumur and the Boulevard de Sébastopol, which are themselves named after the scientist René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur and for the port of Sevastopol in Crimea, the scene of the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. The Line 4 platforms were opened on 21 April 1908 as part of the first section of the line from Châtelet to Porte de Clignancourt. The platforms on line 3 have panels showing the front pages of newspapers, some of which relate to the Second World War. This decor recalls the presence of newspapers located on Rue Réaumur. As part of the Renouveau du Métro program, the station was under construction from 4 March 2013 to 30 June 2014. As part of the automation of line 4, its platforms were raised between 28 August to 26 November 2017 in order to install landing doors. The doors were installed from November to December 2019. In 2019, 5,291,106 travelers entered this station which placed it at 75th position of the metro stations for its usage.
Passenger services
Access
Square Émile-Chautemps
68 Rue Réaumur
81 Rue Réaumur
Rue de Palestro
Station layout
Platforms
The platforms of the two lines are of standard configuration. They are separated by the metro tracks located in the center. The platforms of line 3 have an elliptical vault. The decoration of the platforms are in the style used for most metro stations. The lighting canopies are white and rounded in the Gaudin during the du métro des années 2000 renovation, and the bevelled white ceramic tiles cover the vault, walls and the tympans. The advertising frames are of a white ceramic colour and the name of the station is in the Parisine font on enameled plate. The seats are in the Akiko style, jade colour. The walls of platforms of line 4 are flush with the ground, the ceiling consists of a metal deck, whose beams are silver in colour, supported by vertical white ceramic tiled walls. Since 2017, they have been in the process of automating line 4.
Bus connections
The station is served by bus lines 20, 38 and 39 of the RATP Bus Network and, at night, by lines N12, N13, N14 and N23 of the Noctilienbus network.
The station's name is parodied in episode 41 of the Bref series which has as its subject the Paris metro. The RATP, having refused to authorize filming in the metro of a work of fiction which pointed out the negative aspects of its network, the episode had to be carried out in studio in a minimalist decoration imitating a subway train. As a sign of protest, the creators of the series changed the station from Réaumur - Sébastopol to Censure - Sébastopol.
