Petite Ceinture du 15e (PC 15)
Abandoned 1934 circular railway reclaimed by over two hundred wild plant species and birdsong.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Petite Ceinture du 15e in Paris follows the rise and fall of the circular railway that once carried a hundred thousand Parisians a day around the edge of the city. It traces the line's forty-year construction in the 1850s and 60s, its slow decline as the Metro took over, and the last train that ran in 1934. From there the guide turns to what's grown in its place: over two hundred wild plant species, foxes, and quiet gardeners tending plots behind the fences. Walk the old ballast slowly and listen for birdsong where trains once ran every few minutes.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Coulée Verte René-Dumont
Elevated linear park threading above the rooftops on a disused nineteenth-century railway viaduct.
Musée d'Orsay
Beaux-Arts railway terminus turned Impressionist shrine, with a soaring iron-and-glass nave and monumental clocks.
Canal Saint-Martin
Nineteenth-century waterway of iron footbridges, swing locks, and the line that made Paris say "Atmosphère."
La Villette
Vast deconstructivist park on former abattoir grounds, scattered with red steel follies and anchored by science and music venues.
Parc André Citroën
Modernist park on a former car factory site, with geometric gardens and a tethered balloon.
Bercy Village
Converted 19th-century wine warehouses forming a cobblestoned open-air shopping and dining village.