Philippe Auguste station

Philippe Auguste (French pronunciation: [filip oɡyst]) is a station on Line 2 of the Paris Métro, on the border of the 11th and 20th arrondissements.

Location

The station is located at the end of Boulevard de Charonne at its junction with Boulevard de Ménilmontant, at the end of Avenue Philippe-Auguste. Oriented along a north-west/south-east axis, it is located between Père Lachaise and Alexandre Dumas stations.

History

The station was opened on 31 January 1903 as part of the extension of line 2 (known at the time as "2 Nord") from Anvers to Bagnolet (now called Alexandre Dumas). The station is named after the Avenue Philippe Auguste, after King Philip II of France, making it the only station in Paris named for French royalty. It was the location of the Barrière des Rats, a gate built for the collection of taxation as part of the Wall of the Farmers-General; the gate was built between 1784 and 1788 and demolished in 1840.

As part of the RATP Metro Renewal program, the station corridors and platform lighting were renovated on 27 June 2003.

In 2018, the platforms were in turn completely modernized as part of the Un métro + beau operation.

In 2019, 1,763,562 travelers entered this station which placed it at the 262nd position of the metro stations for its traffic out of 302.

Passenger services

Access

The station has two entrances made up of fixed stairs, opening at the corner of Avenue Philippe-Auguste and Boulevard de Charonne:

• Entrance 1: Boulevard de Charonne: main entrance on the central reservation of Boulevard de Charonne, opposite no. 149; this entrance is adorned with an archway produced by architect Hector Guimard, prime contractor for the company. It was listed as a historic monument by the decree of 29 May 29, 1978.
• Entrance 2: Rue du Mont-Louis: a staircase decorated with a Dervaux candelabra, located at the corner of Avenue Philippe-Auguste and Rue de Mont-Louis;

Station layout

Platforms

Philippe Auguste is a standard configuration station. It has two platforms separated by the metro tracks and the vault is elliptical. The decoration is in the style used for most metro stations, the lighting canopies are white and rounded in the Gaudin style of the metro revival of the 2000s, and the bevelled white ceramic tiles cover the walls and tympans. The layout was completely refurbished in 2018; thus, white ceramic advertising frames have replaced the metal surrounds, while the green Motte style seats have been replaced with blue Akiko seats.

Bus connections

The station is served by line 71 of the RATP Bus Network.

Nearby

The famous Père Lachaise Cemetery is nearby as is the Square de la Roquette.

References