Paris: The Catacombs

       

The Catacombs were easily my favorite part of Paris. We waited in line for a good 45 minutes. In the rain. With shoes soaked through, because I was dumb. But we finally got to the ticket counter, and 10 euros and 130 steps later, Mady and I were entering the land of the dead.

The Catacombs were created in former limestone quarries, which were mined for centuries beforehand. They are twenty meters (about 5 stories) below ground, and they contain the remains of around six million Parisians in 11,000 m² of underground space (we only walked a fraction of the tunnels I think). Bodies were transferred here gradually, between the late eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries because graveyards were being closed due to public health concerns. During the Revolution, people were buried directly in the Catacombs. When bodies were first transferred, bones were just thrown in piles and left there; in around 1810, the Catacombs were arranged in an orderly fashion with the skulls and long bones. Behind this, the remaining bones are still piled in a heap. 

"Halt, this is the Empire of Death"

The catacombs aren't all bones though. There are several carved-stone poems (which I couldn't read) and carved out facades. Several huge caverns are there. There are even a couple wells left over from the quarrymen. 

The Quarrymen’s Footbath
 A body of crystal-clear groundwater uncovered by the quarry workers. 
The water was used by workers mixing cement required in the Catacombs.

In some places, you can see obvious gaps in the wall, where disrespecting people have stolen skulls and other "souvenirs." You have to have your bags checked before and after the tour, so I don't know how, but people still manage.

"He who has learnt to despise life fears not death."

There is another archway sign on the way out, and then 83 spiraled stairs that almost killed me (they were much bigger than normal stairs though, so it was more like taking 166 stairs two at a time). I wish we could have exited the catacombs into a beautiful ray of sunshine and warmth to fully appreciate this life, but it was not to be. It was actually still miserable outside and was much warmer in the tunnels.