Registration historical monument 12 février 2016 (≈ 2016)
Protection of the Guimard edicle by order.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Key figures
Hector Guimard - Architect
Designer of Art Nouveau.
Origin and history
The Guimard building of the Saint-Marcel station is an iconic architectural element of the Paris metro, designed by Hector Guimard in the Art Nouveau style. Located at 83 boulevard de l'Hôpital (13th arrondissement), it serves as the main access to Saint-Marcel station, opened on 2 June 1906 when the first section of line 5 was put into service between Gare d'Austerlitz (then Gare d'Orléans) and Place d'Italie. This edicle, inscribed in historical monuments by order of 12 February 2016, is distinguished by its organic forms and its cast iron structures, characteristic of Guimard's work for the entrances to the Paris metro. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the Hospital of Pitié-Salpêtrière, one of whose entrances is located at the same address.
The Saint-Marcel station itself is situated in a dense urban context, under the boulevard de l'Hôpital, between the Gare d'Austerlitz and Campo-Formio stations. Oriented on a north-east/south-west axis, it marks the transition between the underground section and the aerial portion of Line 5 towards Bobigny - Pablo Picasso. His name pays tribute to the faubourg Saint-Marceau (or Saint-Marcel), crossed by the eponymous boulevard. The station underwent a complete renovation in 2004 as part of the RATP's "Metro Renewal" program, modernizing its wharfs and lighting while retaining historical elements such as the Guimard building.
With an annual traffic of 2.1 million passengers in 2019 (ranked 237th on 302 stations), Saint-Marcel is a modest but strategic transportation node, served by bus lines 24, 57 and 91, as well as by the night line N31. Its immediate environment includes major sites such as the Jardin des Plantes, the Grande Mosque of Paris, and the hospital campus of Pitié-Salpêtrière. The Guimard edition, in addition to its heritage value, is also a cultural landmark: it appears in a scene of Claude Très-Lara's film La Traversée de Paris (1956), anchoring the monument in the Parisian cinematic imagination.
