{"id":57499,"date":"2024-10-21T23:38:42","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T21:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=57499"},"modified":"2025-10-21T00:46:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T22:46:44","slug":"the-magical-navigation-canal-that-runs-through-part-of-the-city-of-paris-underground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/10\/21\/the-magical-navigation-canal-that-runs-through-part-of-the-city-of-paris-underground\/","title":{"rendered":"The magical navigation canal that runs through part of the city of Paris underground"},"content":{"rendered":"

Navigation canals were a very popular means of communication in the era before the expansion of the railway throughout Europe.<\/p>\n

Sailing under a mountain in Norway: the Stad ship tunnel project<\/a><\/rel>
\nSailing underground through Standedge, the longest channel tunnel in the United Kingdom<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

Some of these canals still exist today. One of them is the Canal Saint-Martin, in the city of Paris<\/strong>, the construction of which began on 3 May 1822. This canal is 4.55 kilometres long<\/strong>, connecting the Port de l'Arsenal (a marina) to the Bassin de la Villette, which is the main navigable canal in Paris. The Canal Saint-Martin is very popular with tourists visiting the capital of France<\/strong> and there are several tourist boats that travel along it.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
An image of the underground canal published on August 23, 1862 (Photo: Brown University Library<\/a>).<\/div>\n

This canal has a section that is underground: the Richard Lenoir Tunnel<\/strong>. This underground canal measures 1,932 metres and was built in 1860 and 1862. Before its construction, ships sailed on the surface of the city. The waterway was carried 5 metres underground<\/strong>, being used mainly for the transport of goods, until it fell into disuse in the 20th century. Today it is used by tourist boats.<\/p>\n

According to Setec TPI<\/a>, this tunnel has three parts: the oldest is the Bastille Vault,<\/strong> 180 metres long and located under the Place de la Bastille; next is the Richard Lenoir Vault,<\/strong> 1,510 metres long and located just under the Boulevard Richard Lenoir, and finally the Temple Vault<\/strong>, 242 metres long and built at the beginning of the 20th century, where there is a system of locks that go down to the tunnel.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The Temple Vault is the most modern part of this tunnel (Photo: Setec TPI<\/a>).<\/div>\n

Last week, The Tim Traveller<\/a> posted an interesting video of him travelling along this canal<\/strong>, which is given a truly magical appearance by the sunlight streaming through various holes. The video's author was very good at choosing for this section a beautiful piece by the Parisian impressionist composer Camille Saint-Sa\u00ebns<\/strong> that I really like: \"Aquarium\" from \"Carnival of the Animals\"<\/a>, a suite composed in 1886, 14 years after the tunnel was completed:<\/p>\n