Porte des Lilas de Paris

You are standing near what was once a gateway in the Thiers wall, a massive defensive fortification that encircled Paris during the mid-nineteenth century. While the wall itself was demolished in the early twentieth century to make room for urban growth, the name Porte des Lilas persists as a marker of the city’s former boundary. Behind the everyday hum of the modern station that now occupies this space lies a secret. Hidden away from commuters is a ghost station, officially known as Porte des Lilas Cinéma, which has been closed to the public since the outbreak of the Second World War in nineteen thirty-nine. Because it has remained remarkably preserved in its original nineteen twenties state, it functions today as a dedicated film set for international cinema. Directors frequently rent this subterranean stage to film scenes that require an authentic Parisian metro atmosphere, far away from the complexities of the active transit network.