CATACOMBS OF PARIS

Description

Essentials about the Catacombs of Paris in brief

It is probably the most extraordinary sight of the French capital. Travelers who like a little creepiness should definitely have seen the Catacombs of Paris. The largest underground ossuary in the world houses the bones of about six million Parisians.

The history of the Catacombs of Paris

Over a period of almost two millennia, the subsoil of Paris provided limestone, gypsum and clay for the construction of the city. Since the 12th century, mining has increasingly taken place underground, at depths of 5 to 35 meters. This created an underground network of tunnels under almost all of today’s Parisian districts, probably over 300 kilometers long (the exact length is still unknown today, as not all tunnels have been mapped). The dangers posed by the massive undermining of the city led to the first measures to fill in the tunnels, starting in 1600.

At the end of the 18th century, another problem arose: the growing population, epidemics and famines led to a dramatic overcrowding of the Parisian cemeteries. In order to make room for new graves, the resting periods for the deceased became increasingly shorter. In turn, the exhumation of only half-decomposed corpses led to catastrophic hygienic conditions. In 1779, several residents of the Cimetière des Innocents (“Cemetery of the Innocents”) allegedly suffocated from the foul gases wafting over. The incident led to the official closure and evacuation of the cemetery. The exhumed bones were sunk through a shaft in the depth of the catacombs from 1785.

In the following years, other cemeteries were closed and bones were transferred to the catacombs. At first, the procedure of “filling” the catacombs was somewhat disorganized, until finally the gravediggers began to pile up skulls and bones, giving them a decorative element through a certain arrangement. Memorial plaques and wooden crosses marked the cemeteries of origin.

Visiting the Catacombs of Paris

Today, only a small section of the catacombs, about two kilometers long, is accessible to visitors and developed as a museum. Most of the catacombs remain inaccessible because they were used to lay utility lines. One tract even belongs to the National Bank of France, which has housed its gold treasure there. The walk through the catacombs takes about 45 minutes.

If you want to descend into the underworld, you should have a little patience, because the catacombs are one of the sights in Paris with the longest waiting times. In fact, for safety reasons, more than 200 people are never allowed to be in the old quarries at the same time. Impatient visitors can avoid this problem by purchasing a much more expensive online ticket in advance, which allows them to skip the queue.