Palais Royal–Musée du Louvre () is a station on Line 1 and Line 7 of the Paris Métro. Situated in the heart of the 1st arrondissement, it most notably serves the Palais-Royal, Comédie-Française and Louvre.

Location

The station is located under the Place du Palais-Royal, between the Palais-Royal and the Louvre Museum, the platforms being established (almost parallel):

  • on Line 1, under the Rue de Rivoli;
  • on Line 7, under Rue Saint-Honoré.

History

It is one of the eight original stations opened as part of the first section of Line 1 between Porte de Vincennes and Porte Maillot on 19 July 1900, under the name Palais Royal. The Line 7 platforms were opened on 1 July 1916 with the extension of the line from Opéra.

In 2018, the masonry benches on the platforms of line 7, fitted with flat brown tiles, part of the Andreu-Motte style of the station, were covered with smaller orange flat tiles, thus being consistent with the seats and the lighting fittings, but no longer with the outlets of the corridors, as the Andreu-Motte style originally wanted.

In 2019, 9,592,920 travelers entered this station, which placed it in 18th position for metro stations in terms of its usage.

Attractions accessible from this metro station include the Louvre, the Place du Carrousel, and the Carrousel du Louvre shopping mall.

Passenger services

Access

Since the renovation of the Louvre museum, each of the platforms of line 1 has been linked to an underground shopping mall, the Carrousel du Louvre, providing access to the museum's underground hall. This is exit number 1.

The Kiosque des Noctambules is a contemporary work of art covering one of the metro entrances (exit 5) leading to Place Colette. Built for the centenary of the Paris metro and produced under the direction of the artist Jean-Michel Othoniel in a controversial style, it was inaugurated in October 2000.

The station has the following five accesses:

  • Entrance 1: Louvre museum;
  • Entrance 2: Place du Palais-Royal;
  • Entrance 3: Rue de Rivoli;
  • Entrance 4: Rue de Valois;
  • Entrance 5: Place Colette, Kiosque des Noctambules.

Exits 2 and 3 are adorned with Guimard entrances, which are listed as historical monuments by the decree of 29 May 1978.

In an access corridor, another work of art, La Pensée et l'Âme Huicholes was the subject of an exchange intended to celebrate the thirty years of cooperation between the metro companies of Mexico City and Paris. The Parisian station thus houses an indigenous fresco, La Pensée et l'Âme huicholes, developed by the shaman Santos de la Torre and composed of two million pearls of 2 mm in diameter. In exchange, the City of Mexico received on 14 November 1998 a Hector Guimard-style entrance, which it installed at the Bellas Artes metro station.

Station layout

{| border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;border-top:solid 1px gray;" width=50 valign=top|Street Level

|}

{| border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;border-top:solid 1px gray;" width=50 valign=top|B1

|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width=100 valign=top|Connecting level

|}

{| border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width=50 rowspan=10 valign=top|Line 1 platforms

|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;border-right:solid 2px black;border-left:solid 2px black;border-bottom:solid 2px black;text-align:center;" colspan=2|

|-

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width=100|Westbound

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width=390|← toward La Défense–Grande Arche

|-

|Eastbound

| toward Château de Vincennes →

|-

|style="border-top:solid 2px black;border-right:solid 2px black;border-left:solid 2px black;border-bottom:solid 1px gray;text-align:center;" colspan=2|

|}

{| border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width=50 rowspan=10 valign=top|Line 7 platforms

|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;border-right:solid 2px black;border-left:solid 2px black;border-bottom:solid 2px black;text-align:center;" colspan=2|

|-

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width=100|Southbound

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width=390|← toward Villejuif–Louis Aragon or Mairie d'Ivry

|-

|Northbound

| toward La Courneuve–8 mai 1945 →

|-

|style="border-top:solid 2px black;border-right:solid 2px black;border-left:solid 2px black;border-bottom:solid 1px gray;text-align:center;" colspan=2|

|}

Platforms

The platforms of the two lines are of standard configuration. There are two per stopping point and are separated by the metro tracks located in the center.

Line 1 station platform is flush with the walls. The ceiling is made up of a metal deck, the beams of which are supported by vertical walls. A 15-meter-long crypt, the ceiling of which rests on closely spaced pillars, extends at western end for the introduction of the six-car train line in the 1960s. Furnished in the Andreu-Motte style, the station along with Opéra on line 3 and Concorde on line 8, they are only three stations decorated in this way, in purple, forming part of the lexicon of exceptional colors of this style. It is applied to light fittings, deck beams and seats. The benches, tunnel exits and platforms are fitted with large flat white tiles with a glazed appearance, while the outlets in the corridors are treated with classic beveled white tiles. The advertising frames are metallic and the name of the station is written in Parisine font on enamelled plates.

Line 7 station is curved and has an elliptical arch. However, it is distinguished by the lower part of the wall which are vertical and not curved, and its platforms are slightly offset from one another. Like those of line 1, they are furnished in the Andreu-Motte style with two orange light fittings, the corridor outlets in flat brown tiles and orange Motte seats. The latter are fixed on masonry benches covered with flat orange tiles of a smaller size than usual. This new tiling is therefore now consistent with the lighting strips and the seats they support; on the other hand, they are no longer in harmony with the tiles of the outlets of the corridors, neither by their size nor by their color, going against the original principles of the Andreu-Motte style. The bevelled white ceramic tiles cover the walls, the vault and the tunnel exits. The stair stringers and the walkway are treated in flat white tiles aligned horizontally. The advertising frames are metallic and the name of the station is written in Parisine font on enamel plates.

Bus connections

The station is served by lines 21, 27, 39, 67, 68, 69, 72 and 95 of the RATP Bus Network as well as by the tourist line OpenTour. At night, the station is served by lines N11 and N24 of the Noctilien bus network.

Nearby

  • Louvre Pyramid
  • Conseil d'État (France)
  • Constitutional Council (France)

<gallery widths="200px" heights="125px" mode="packed">

File:Comédie-Française.jpg|Place Colette with the (left). The building in the background is the Comédie-Française

File:Metro palais royal guimard3.jpg|Station entrance

File:Palais Royal station entrance.jpg|Station entrance

Rame Station Métro Palais Royal Musée Louvre Ligne 7 - Paris I (FR75) - 2022-05-27 - 4.jpg|Line 7 platforms

</gallery>

References

  • Roland, Gérard (2003). Stations de métro. D’Abbesses à Wagram. Éditions Bonneton. 2862533076