The exit of the Saint-Martin Canal, near the rue de Faubourg du Temple, in the tenth arrondissement.

Cruising Paris Underground

By Françoise Giovannangeli

Paris Kiosque - September 1996 - Volume 3, Number 9
Copyright (c) September 1996 Françoise; Giovannangeli - used with permission

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A dark river flows silently under the streets of Paris, but it's not the mysterious Granges-Bateliere, legendary underground current that has fuelled imaginations over the years. It's the Canal Saint Martin -- the world's only underground urban canal -- that provides an enchanting three-hour journey through some of the most poetic parts of the city. A segment of the canal glides along below the surface for two kilometres in an impressive 19th century tunnel that connects Paris' yacht harbour to the open air portion of the canal.

The Canal Saint-Martin, built by Napoleon I in order to facilitate inland water transport, was opened in 1825. The underground portion was initially open air -- it was only 40 years later that Baron Haussmann (1809-1891), the enterprising Prefect for the Seine, decided to lower its bed and cover it over.

Back in 1800, each Parisian had to make do with a mere litre of water per day. Transport of goods was mainly by river boat or peniche and a practical circuit was required to move goods through the city more rapidly. Three years after the canal was built, inhabitants could count on three litres per day and canal traffic was booming.

The water shortage has long been solved -- Parisians now use more than 300 litres of potable water daily! -- and few peniches remain. Many have been converted into house-boats. Others are still occasionally be seen quietly transporting cargo. The tranquil canal, which narrowly escaped obliteration a few years ago (someone suggested that it be drained and converted into an expressway), is now mainly used by pleasure craft.

The underground part of the tour begins near the Place de la Bastille along the Bassin de l'Arsenal, Paris's yacht harbour. Dug out in 1806, this port brought the Seine up to the Bastille and served as a base for transport of cargo by water. The entrance to the canal takes you right under the busy roundabout and its towering Colonne de Juillet before heading off beneath the near-by Boulevard Richard-Lenoir in an other-worldly passage. Skylights situated every 50 metres or so cast a hazy blue light in the dark vault. Directly overhead at the base of the 180-tonne Colonne de Juillet is a crypt containing the remains of the 500 victims of the 1830 revolution, whose names are inscribed on the column above.

One thousand eight hundred metres later the water emerges into a peaceful realm of graceful bridges and locks bordered by chestnut trees not far from the old domain of the enigmatic Knights Templar near the rue du Fauboug du Temple. The cruise takes visitors through a total of nine locks, past historic landmarks such as the Hotel du Nord, from the film of the same title starring Arletty, and the Hopital Saint-Louis built by Henri IV in 1607. The canal then gradually winds its way up to the Bassin de la Villette, a recreational body of water bordered by the green and spacious Parc de la Villette, site of the Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie and the famous rock (music) venue Le Zenith.

From here, the Bassin de la Villette forks out into the Canal Saint-Denis and the Canal de l'Ourq - on which full-day cruises are possible. Between the Bassin de l'Arsenal and the Bassin de la Villette, the water level rises by 24.5 metres!

Françoise Giovannangeli is a Canadian freelance writer who lives in Paris. She can be contacted via this link.