Abbesses 3.81

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 (118 feet) below ground, it is located on the western side of the butte (hill) of Montmartre. Access to the platforms is usually by elevators, but they can be accessed by decorated stairs.Alphabetically, Abbesses is the first station in the entire Métro system.LocationNearby are the Montmartre district, the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre (church), the Place du Tertre and the Église Saint-Jean-de-Montmartre (Art Nouveau church). The station is named after the Place des Abbesses, referring to the abbesses of the nearby abbey of the Dames-de-Montmartre.HistoryThe station opened on 30 January 1913, three monthes 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. The RATP has recently completed a major renovation of this station, which has returned it to its splendid original Nord-Sud condition.Station layoutDesignThe station's entrance, designed by Hector Guimard (1867–1942), is one of only two original glass-covered Guimard entrances, called édicules (kiosks), left in Paris (the other is located at Porte Dauphine, while a third, replica édicule exists at Châtelet). Though a Guimard original, the édicule at Abbesses was originally located at Hôtel de Ville but 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.