Saint-Germain-des-Prés Station: telling the story of the neighborhood

In 2021, Saint-Germain-des-Prés station, on Metro Line 4, unveiled a cultural mural entitled “The Saint-Germain Myth: A Lexicon of Love.” This installation pays tribute to both renowned and sometimes lesser-known figures who helped shape the neighborhood’s history, including Boris Vian, Jacques Prévert, Marguerite Duras, Amélie Nothomb, as well as Roland Topor and Sonia Delaunay.

This gallery of portraits offers a literary journey through the decades, from the station’s opening to the present day. Through stories and anecdotes, it reveals glimpses of this unique neighborhood, which embodies in the collective imagination a Paris that is intellectual, elegant, free, and creative. The gallery is designed to evolve over time, with each display showcasing around ten portraits.

Explore, through audio description, an introduction to the cultural installation as well as each portrait featured in the mural.

Located in the heart of a neighborhood marked by unprecedented cultural ferment in the 20th century, Saint-Germain-des-Prés station enjoys special status on the Paris metro network.

RATP has always attached great importance to culture and  art at this station. For instance, passengers can admire Les Messagers, a bronze sculpture by Gualtiero Busato, or a mosaic by André Ropion paying homage to Gutenberg. Since the metro’s centenary in 2000, the station’s platforms have regularly hosted temporary exhibitions highlighting literary creation.

The City of Paris inaugurated a square named after legendary French singer Juliette Gréco on 23 September 2021. It forms part of Saint-Germain-des-Prés square, in the heart of the neighborhood whose spirit the artist long embodied. 

RATP also pays tribute to Juliette Gréco in the cultural installation at Saint-Germain-des-Prés station. The artist was delighted to receive this honor before she died in 2020: in the video below, discover the interview with Juliette Gréco’s granddaughter, Julie-Amour Rossini, who describes the singer’s reaction.