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The historical mosaics of the Paris metro are in danger!

undefined undefined 23 septembre 2025 undefined 08h30

The Editor

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A few days ago, the Sites & Monuments association launched an online petition to alert the residents of the capital about the increasingly frequent disappearance of the original tiles from the Paris metro. It's a terrible situation, caused by more and more frequent renovation work.

A few months ago, we shared a tragedy: the disappearance of the tribute mural to Georges Brassens at the Porte des Lilas station due to construction work. And unfortunately, this catastrophe was just the tip of the iceberg, as the historic mosaics in the metro, which display the names of the stations, are also disappearing at an alarming rate.


A Heritage in Danger

Last autumn, the Paris metro celebrated its 120th anniversary. For more than a century now, it has been welcoming hundreds and hundreds of busy Parisians every day. Having become a true symbol of the capital, it stands out among a thousand thanks to its art nouveau entrances and its tiles in the colorful style.deep blue in the middle of immaculate white tiles. Unfortunately, more and more stations are removing them.

In most cases, the tiles are removed to allow the Paris transport authority to carry out renovation work, particularly in instances of water infiltration issues, like at the Vaneau station, which is the latest to have experienced jackhammer action. The only issue is that, in these cases, while the RATP commits to replacing the tiles, they resemble those of a hospital more than the original decor.


A heritage that matters

Julien Lacaze, president of Sites & Monuments and the petition's author, is amazed that broader measures are not taken to protect these places that are part of Paris's history. Especially considering that, for instance, most entrances Guimard is indeed protected. He then proposed to catalog the historical stations to ensure their protection. A shared desire evidently embraced by a number of Parisians, since currently, the defense text has already been signed by over 20,000 people. This situation is all the more perplexing for the president, given that the RATP frequently highlights these ceramics in the merchandise they offer for sale, he declared to our colleagues at the Parisien.