Barbès-Rochechouart is a station on Paris Métro Line 2

Paris Metro Line 2

Line 2 is one of the sixteen lines of the Paris Métro rapid transit system in Paris, France. Situated almost entirely above the former city walls , it runs in a semi-circle in the north of Paris....

 and Line 4

Paris Metro Line 4

Line 4 is one of the sixteen lines of the Paris Métro rapid transit system. Situated entirely within the boundaries of the City of Paris, it connects Porte de Clignancourt in the north and Porte d'Orléans in the south, travelling across the heart of the city. As a result, it is sometimes called...

 at the point where the 9th, 10th, and 18th arrondissements all share a single point. This is also where the three boulevards, Boulevard de la Chapelle

Boulevard de la Chapelle

The boulevard de la Chapelle marks the border between the 10e arrondissement and the 18e arrondissement of Paris. It corresponds in part to the mur des Fermiers généraux, which, until 1860, marked the border between the communes of Paris and La Chapelle....

, Boulevard de Rochechouart

Boulevard de Rochechouart

The Boulevard de Rochechouart is situated at the foot of Montmartre and to its south. Like the neighbouring street it is named after Marguerite de Rochechouart de Montpipeau , abbess of Montmartre. It is a result of the 1864 merging of the boulevards and chemins de ronde which followed the...

, and Boulevard de Magenta

Boulevard de Magenta

The boulevard de Magenta is located in the IX and X arrondissements of Paris, in France.It begins at place de la République and 1, rue Beaurepaire, and ends at 1, boulevard de Rochechouart and 53, boulevard de la Chapelle.-Etymology:...

, intersect at street level.

The elevated line-2 station was opened on 31 January 1903 as the Boulevard Barbès station, as part of the extension of line 2 from Anvers

Anvers (Paris Metro)

Anvers is a station on Paris Métro Line 2, on the border of the 9th and the 18th arrondissements in Montmartre.The station was opened on 21 October 1902 as part of the extension of line 2 from Étoile. It was the eastern terminus of the line until its extension to Bagnolet on 31 January 1903...

 to Bagnolet (now called Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas (Paris Metro)

Alexandre Dumas is a station on Paris Métro Line 2, on the border of the 11th and 20th arrondissements.The station was opened on 31 January 1903 as part of the extension of line 2 from Anvers. It was the eastern terminus of the line until 2 April 1903 when it was extended to Nation...

). It was renamed to its current name eight days later. Line 2 descends into a tunnel to the west of the station. The underground line-4 station was opened on 21 April 1908 as part of the first section of the line from Châtelet

Châtelet (Paris Metro)

Châtelet is a station on lines 1, 4, 7, 11 and 14 of the Paris Métro in the centre of medieval Paris and the 1st arrondissement. The station is made up of two parts connected by a long corridor:...

 to Porte de Clignancourt

Porte de Clignancourt (Paris Metro)

Porte de Clignancourt is a station of the Paris Métro, the northern terminus of line 4, situated in the 18th Arrondissement.The station was opened on 21 April 1908 as part of the first section of the line from Châtelet. A terminal loop is provided at the station for trains to turn around to return...

.

The station is named for the revolutionary, Armand Barbès

Armand Barbès

Armand Barbès , was a French Republican revolutionary and a fierce and steadfast opponent of the July monarchy . He is remembered as a man whose life centers on two days:...

, and the abbess, Marguerite de Rochechouart.

The disastrous fire

Paris Metro train fire

The disastrous Paris Métro train fire occurred on the evening of August 10, 1903, on what was then Line 2 Nord of the system and is now Line 2...

 of 10 August 1903 that resulted in eighty deaths at Couronnes

Couronnes (Paris Metro)

Couronnes is a station on Paris Métro Line 2, on the border of the 11th and 20th arrondissements.-History:The station was opened on 31 January 1903 as part of the extension of line 2 from Anvers to Bagnolet...

 station began here.

Also, in 1941, Colonel Pierre-Georges Fabien shot and killed a German soldier in the station, marking the beginning of the armed Résistance

French Resistance

The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...

 in Paris.

The station is the former location of the Barrière Poissonnière, a gate in the Wall of the Farmers-General

Wall of the Farmers-General

The Wall of the Farmers-General was built between 1784 and 1791 by the Ferme générale, the corporation of tax farmers. It was one of the several city walls of Paris built between the early Middle Ages to the mid 19th century. It was 24 kilometers long and roughly followed the route now occupied by...

 built for the collection of excise taxes (the octroi

Octroi

Octroi is a local tax collected on various articles brought into a district for consumption.-Antiquity:Octroi taxes have a respectable antiquity, being known in Roman times as vectigalia...

). The gate was built between 1784 and 1788, and it was demolished in the nineteenth century.

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