Paris Catacombs and Pere Lechaise Cemetery (warning GRAPHIC content, viewer discr

Aug 2, 2017

1 min read

Hi Guys,

As advised above this post shows pictures of graves and more importantly real life skeletal remains, so please be forewarned.

So apparently Paris is built on a labyrinth of Limestone quarries that were mined to build the famous buildings and monuments in Paris. However buildings and roads started collapsing into sink holes, so the government sent down a team to map and shore up all of the old mines. Then the cemeteries in the centre of town were getting too full and posing a health risk. So one bright spark had the idea of re-purposing a part of those old quarries as a crypt for over 6 million peoples remains that were transferred from the overfull cemeteries before they were closed. Initially the remains were just thrown down the well into the crypts and left, but some morbid genius wanted to start a tourist attraction, so gathered all the bones and placed them as you see them now in the photos. The tunnels are 30 metres underground and are about 150 steps down and 130 back up and run for about 1.5 Kilometres (the part that is open to the public, there was much more not on public display). I went once with a couple of fellow dorm mates (pictured) and a second time with a lovely lady from Texas, whom I met in my hostel. The Texan and I also went to the main cemetery together in Paris where many famous people are buried such as Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf and Chopin.

Again viewer discretion advise, especially you Anabelle (love you heaps, missing you loads),

David