- History and visit the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris
- Transfer from the Canal Saint-Martin to Paris airports
History and visit the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris
The Canal Saint-Martin is located in the 10th and 11th arrondissements of Paris. It allows you to attach the Bassin de la Villette in Port de l’Arsenal, which is connected to the Seine. With a length of 4.55 km, 2 km from the channel are buried underground. It was originally designed for the drinking water in the city of Paris supply. It is composed of nine locks and two swing bridges with a drop of twenty-five meters. It is not open to navigation only two days in the year. He joined the network of Parisian canals next to the Saint-Denis canal, the Canal de l’Ourcq and the Bassin de la Villette. Since 23 February 1993, it is part of the historical monuments of Paris. It is served by three underground stations such as Metro Goncourt, Jaures and Republic.
The Old Regime was a period of drinking water crisis for the Parisians. Because of the pollution of the River Seine and the Bièvre, it was of poor quality. However wells and aqueducts were not enough to supply the city. In 1802, the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, decided to find a solution to this problem. A pipeline project Ourcq was advanced by the prefect of the capital, Gaspard de Chabrol again. The Act of 29 Floreal X launched thereby creating channels Saint-Denis de l’Ourcq and Saint-Martin. Faced with the situation in France between 1809 and 1815, the construction took the delay. Having appealed to the engineer Pierre-Simon Girard, Louis XVIII wanted to get the project started. The use of private capital to Chabrol was the key to be able to finance the project. Indeed, the Company Canals Paris was born in 1818. Three years later, she won the open by the city of Paris for use of a private concession for the construction of the Canal Saint-Martin award. The amount rose to more than five million francs. For the smooth running of the project, the Compagnie du Saint-Martin canal was created shortly after. The work lasted three years. November 4, 1825, Charles X proceeded to the inauguration of the Canal Saint-Martin.
The new channel was widely used until the mid-twentieth century. In addition to drinking water, it was also used to supply the city of several commodities such as cereals. He allowed the delivery of construction materials to the Port de l’Arsenal and Bassin de la Villette. Since 1960, road and rail transport came compete river transport. Whole working population that remained in the canal disappeared with many factories, warehouses and workshops due to the decline in traffic on the Parisian canals. Under the motorway plan for Paris, the Paris City Council projected at the beginning of the seventy years, set up a project of urban four-lane highway that had to follow the route of the canal. Fortunately, the project was never realized, because he almost get rid of the Canal Saint-Martin.
In 2006, the canal was intended to place the hundreds of Asian refugees and the Middle East arrived in France. In 2010, they were evicted from the Canal Saint-Martin in an operation led by the city of Paris with the France haven. The Canal is now attributed primarily to carry passengers in a tourism context.
We invite you to discover historic places in a collective shuttle in Paris such as Canal Saint-Martin. You can of course opt for other types of rentals: VIP luxury car or prestige limousine.
Transfer from the Canal Saint-Martin to Paris airports
The Canal Saint-Martin is located 20.7 kilometers from Orly Airport, 26.3 km from Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport and 86.7 km from the airport of Beauvais.