Viaduc des Arts

The Viaduc des Arts is a long, elevated row of pink brick and stone vaults stretching for more than a kilometer through the twelfth arrondissement. Originally built in eighteen fifty-nine as the Bastille Viaduct, the structure carried steam trains from the eastern suburbs into the city’s heart. By the late twentieth century, the railway line fell into disuse and faced potential demolition, but city planners eventually opted to save the massive stone arches.