After exploring Paris metro tunnels and abandoned stations, we headed to the biggest underground river in Paris: the Saint-Martin Canal.
The Canal Saint-Martin was designed by Napoleon’s engineers in the 19th century to bring drinking water to Paris. The canal connects the Bassin de la Villette to the Seine upstream, with a drop of twenty-five meters. Canal Saint-Martin has nine locks and two swing bridges, and it measures 4.5 km long, more than 2 km of which runs underground.
The canal’s underground section is covered by a vault that used to be illuminated every year by the Japanese artist Keiichi Tahara (he died on 6 June 2017, so we’ll have to see what happens from this year on). Tahara’s installations lit up the vault unexpectedly as the cruise boats passed by. This part of the canal is also frequently used for film shoots. Movies like Ratatouille and Queen Margot filmed some of their scenes here.
Gaspard de Chabrol, the prefect of Paris, proposed building a canal from the river Ourcq, 100 km northeast of Paris, to supply the city with fresh water. This would support a growing population and help avoid diseases such as dysentery and cholera, while also supplying fountains and allowing the streets to be cleaned. Construction of the canal was ordered by Napoleon I in 1802 and continued until 1825, funded by a new tax on wine.
Tour to Underground River for everybody! Join us if you want to see it!
The canal was also used to supply Paris with grain, building materials and other goods, carried on canal boats. Two ports were created on the canal in Paris to unload the boats: Port de l’Arsenal and the Bassin de la Villette.
By the 1960s, traffic had dwindled to a trickle, and the canal narrowly escaped being filled in and paved over for a highway.
Today, the canal is a popular destination for Parisians and tourists alike. Some take cruises along the canal in passenger boats. Others watch the barges and other boats navigate the series of locks and pass under the attractive cast-iron footbridges. There are many popular restaurants and bars along the open part of the canal, which is also a favorite with students. We are illegal tourists, so we explored the canal by sneaking through a hole in the grate.
If you guys are after urbex in Paris, we can take you to the Paris Catacombs or the metro tunnels. Contact us.
In Kiev and across Ukraine, our team can take you on a Kiev Urbex Tour or let you explore Chernobyl with a stalker-guide.