Bassin de l'Arsenal

A component of the Réseau des Canaux Parisiens (Parisian Canal Network), it forms part of the boundary between the 4th and the 12th arrondissements.

After the destruction of the Bastille fortress in November 1789 (during the French Revolution), the Bassin de l'Arsenal was excavated to replace the ditch that had been in place to draw water from the Seine to fill the moat at the fortress.

During the nineteenth century and most of the twentieth, the Bassin de l'Arsenal was a commercial port where goods were loaded and unloaded.

Since that time, it has been a marina (in French, a port de plaisance), for approximately 180 pleasure boats.

The Bassin de l'Arsenal is located between the Paris Métro stations Quai de la Rapée and Bastille (except the Line 1 platforms, which crosses over the Bassin), and is a short walk from Sully – Morland (Paris Métro).