I am Canal St-Martin

I am Canal Saint-Martin a 4.5 km long canal in Paris. I connect the Canal de l’Ourcq to the river Seine and run underground between Bastille and République.
My construction was ordered by Napoleon in 1802, in order to create an artificial waterway for supplying Paris with fresh water to support a growing population and to help avoid diseases such as dysentery and cholera.

The canal was dug from 1802 to 1825, funded by a new tax on wine. The canal was also used to supply Paris with food (grain), building materials, and other goods, carried on canal boats. Two ports were created in Paris on the canal to unload boats: Port de l’Arsenal and Bassin de la Villette.

By the 1960s, my traffic had dwindled to a trickle and the canal narrowly escaped being filled in and paved over for a highway. Today, the canal is covered from Rue du Faubourg du Temple to the Place de la Bastille.