Catacombes de Paris

Paris (14e arrondissement)

Beneath the Denfert-Rochereau district, former limestone quarries were converted at the end of the 18th century into the largest underground ossuary in the world. Faced with the insalubrious state of the Cimetière des Innocents, the transfer of bones began at the end of 1785; the site was blessed and consecrated on 7 April 1786, then received, until 1860, the contents of seventeen cemeteries and numerous places of worship. It holds the remains of around six million people, stacked into walls of shin bones and skulls along a 1.5 km route, twenty metres below the street. Opened to the curious from 1809, the Catacombs early on gave rise to an underground mythology that extends well beyond the official route: the quarry network stretches to nearly 300 kilometres and continues into forbidden galleries, the domain of the cataphiles. The most famous of these stories is that of Philibert Aspairt, doorkeeper of the Val-de-Grâce, who went down into the galleries in November 1793 and whose body is said to have been found eleven years later, identified by his set of keys. A plaque marks, within the forbidden network, the spot of the discovery, and Aspairt has become the unofficial patron saint of clandestine explorers. Caution is nonetheless called for: some researchers believe that this tomb and the 1804 discovery may be no more than a hoax staged by a quarry inspector, and for two centuries the story has hovered between news item and urban legend.

Site officiel des Catacombes de Paris ↗

Getting there : Entrance at 1 Avenue du Colonel-Henri-Rol-Tanguy, Place Denfert-Rochereau (RER B, Métro lines 4 and 6). Open Tuesday to Sunday, online booking strongly recommended; descent and ascent by long staircases, the route is cool and damp, not recommended for people in poor health. The rest of the underground network is off-limits, and visiting it is liable to a fine.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound