Around the edges of Paris there are at least fifty-six intersections whose names begin with Porte, meaning Gate.

Seventeen of these, including the Porte de Versailles, were the main gates in a defensive wall that was built around Paris from 1841 to 1844. This wall was the largest and last wall to be built around Paris. It stood for three quarters of a century, but was gradually demolished between 1919 and 1929 because modern artillery and military aircraft had made it obsolete for defensive purposes.

At the Porte de Versailles there is now a Vélib’ bicycle station (number 15049), a Métro station of line number 12, the terminus of Tramway line T-2 (on the right-hand side in my lead photo) and a station of the Tramway line T-3a (in the background, behind the Métro entrance).

For many decades, the Porte de Versailles was a large expanse of asphalt devoted almost entirely to motor vehicles, but with the building of the Tramway T-3 (now the T-3a) the square was rearranged so that there is now more space for pedestrians and cyclists.

Terminus of Tramway T-2

The Tramway T-2 now starts here at Porte de Versailles, makes a loop through Issy and Meudon-sur-Seine and then continues north through the suburbs to La Défense and Pont de Bezons.

Welcome sign for Paris Expo

The main entrance of Paris Expo, the venue for Paris trade fairs, is located here at Porte de Versailles.

My photos in this post are from 2013. I revised the text in 2021.

See more posts on the 15^th arrondissement of Paris, France.
See also: Paris tramways T-3a and T-3b.