The Catacombs of Paris
Kati Woodward
Paris is often referred to as the City of Light and is regarded as a symbol of
beauty. However, even Paris has a darker side, which can be found in the network of
tunnels and galleries that lie below the city’s streets. The catacombs of Paris can be found
in old limestone quarries, where sections known as the Tombe Issoire have been
converted into an ossuary to serve as the last resting place of millions of Parisians from
cemeteries around the city. The catacombs are unlike other tourist attractions in Paris;
there is nothing glamorous or beautiful about the dirt-floored tunnels lined with the bones
of Parisians whose identities are long forgotten.
The limestone that was used to build the city of Paris was mined from quarries
below areas that are now Montparnasse, Montsouris, Montrouge, Butteaux Cailles, and
Colline de Challiot (Thomas et. al. 2011). Stone from these quarries was used to build
some of the most well known Parisian monuments like the Louvre and Notre Dame
(Catacombes: Histoire de Paris, 2010). Mining began at the end of the 12th century, and at
this time the quarries were located outside of the city. As Paris grew, it soon was built on
top of the quarries, which weren’t stable enough to support the weight of buildings,
causing cave-ins towards the end of the 18th century (Thomas, 2011). In 1777, Louis XVI
created the Quarry Inspection Unit to protect the quarries and the growing city. The
king’s architect, Charles Axel Guillamont, was placed in charge of reinforcing the
quarries and became known as the “man who saved Paris” (Thomas, 2011). Most of the
pillars and other reinforcement structures were built in line with the walls and
foundations of the buildings above, which created an underground double of the city.
Around this same time, problems began to arise with the city’s cemeteries. Les
Innocents Cemetery was the largest and oldest cemetery in Paris (Geiling, 2014). Bodies
were buried in Les Innocents for over 10 centuries, leaving the grounds beyond
overcrowded. There were so many bodies buried in Les Innocents that the soil level was
raised 2.5 meters. The remains from older bodies were regularly excavated and stored in
cemetery buildings in order to make room to bury new bodies in the ground. The exposed
corpses and overcrowding covered the surrounding neighborhood, Les Halles, in a
permanent smell of decomposition. In 1763, Louis XV banned any new burials from
occurring within the city limits (Geiling, 2014). However, this wasn’t well enforced and
bodies continued to be buried in Les Innocents and other cemeteries within the city. The
problem wasn’t addressed again until 1780, when the basement walls of a building next
to Les Innocents collapsed, filling the building with bones and decomposing corpses
(Geiling, 2014). At this time, the Les Innocents was closed and plans were made to empty
the cemetery. The best solution was to utilize the empty mining quarries under Paris. In
1786, networks of galleries under the Montrouge Plain were sanctified and became
known as the Tomb Issoire (Thomas, 2011). The excavated bones were transported at
night in carts covered in black sheets and dumped down service shafts into the quarries.
The first transfer from Les Innocents lasted 15 months and between 1792 and 1814 other
transfers occurred. Once it had been completely emptied, it is estimated that around 2
million bodies from Les Innocents were relocated into Tomb Issoire. As the bones were
dumped into the service shafts, workers sorted them and organized them into the
elaborate patterns that are seen today. Long bones and skulls were the main bones chosen
to make the patterns that line the walls. The remaining bones and bone fragments were
used as space fillers or were simply piled behind the organized ones in no specific order.
At this same time, other cemeteries around Paris were also emptied into the
ossuary. From 1786 to 1814 the bodies from 15 public cemeteries, 2 Israelite cemeteries,
and 2 Protestant cemeteries were moved into Tomb Issoire (Thomas, 2010). In 1859,
Vaugirard Cemetery was emptied and the bodies were added to the ossuary. The last
notable enlargement to Tomb Issoire occurred in 1860 when Baron Haussmann’s
remodeling of Paris uncovered several forgotten cemeteries (Thomas, 2010). There were
many small deposits made after this time and countless other deposits that were never
recorded. Up until 1980, building renovations and archeological excavations that
uncovered bones resulted in more transfers into Tomb Issoire. It is estimated that the
ossuary in the catacombs holds the bones from about 6 million bodies and covers 11,000
square meters (Catacombes: Histoire de Paris).
Another mass grave that is not connected to the Tomb Issoire catacombs exists in
the quarries under Montparnasse. The Montparnasse cemetery underwent renovations
that resulted in mass amounts of bones being uncovered. At this time, Tomb Issoire
couldn’t be enlarged anymore so the bones were moved into quarries directly under the
Montparnasse Cemetery. In 1895 the bones of victims of the 1832 cholera outbreak were
also moved into this grave (Thomas, 2010). The Montparnasse ossuary covers about 300
square meters.
The Tomb Issoire was unknown to the public until 1810, when Louis Etienne
Francois Hericart Ferrand, the second General Quarry Inspector, advertised it (Thomas,
2010). At the beginning, visitors were led through the catacombs by quarry inspectors
with no set itinerary or path to follow. Many abuses occurred, from damage being done to
the ossuary and guests getting lost in the quarries, leading to the catacombs being closed
for a few years in 1830 (Thomas, 2010). The original entrance to the ossuary was
through a pavilion that was once a part of the wall of the Farmer’s General, which at one
time enclosed the city of Paris. However, in 1860 the wall was torn down and the city of
Paris was annexed. The new city limits included the Pere-Lachaise cemetery, the
Montparnasse Cemetery, the Montmartre Cemetery, and the area of the Tomb Issoire.
The entrance to the catacombs remained in the former tollgate building until the early
1980s, when the entrance was moved to its current location (Thomas, 2010). Over time,
the parts of the ossuary available to visitors have become more limited, restricting the
tour to its current 1.5 km pathway, which shows about 600 meters of the ossuary itself
(Catacombes: Histoire de Paris).
A visitor’s tour through the catacombs begins with a 131-step staircase that goes
by a defense shelter that was used in World War II during Nazi invasions (Thomas,
2010). Once reaching the bottom of the stairs, the galleries of the quarry begin. In some
areas of the current path, a black line can be seen on the ceiling of the galleries, which
was drawn there in the 19th century to help guide visitors the right way. Walking deeper
into the galleries, visitors will come across several sculptures that were done by a quarry
inspector, Decure (Thomas, 2010). The most notable are his sculptures of Port Mahon
and Fort Saint Philippe. Another notable feature of the galleries before reaching the
ossuary is the Quarryman’s Foot Bath, which is a well left by the first geological drill
carried out underneath Paris. It is said that the well contains water so clear that the only
way to know if the well is full of water is to step into it (Thomas, 2010). Tour guides
used to play pranks on guests by having them step into the well, only for them to find that
it is full of water.
Before entering the ossuary, a plaque can be seen above the entrance that has a
famous verse from Jacques Delille, which says, “Halt! This here is the empire of death”
(Thomas, 2010). This plaque was once embedded in bones near the old entrance to the
ossuary, but was moved once the entrance was changed. The pathway through the
ossuary begins with the most recent bone deposits, making the bones from Les Innocents
at the very end of the visit. The first notable object seen along the path is a stone cross,
the Croix de Bordeaux, which is one of only a few religious symbols found in the
catacombs (Catacombes: Histoire de Paris). The next is the Samaritan Fountain, which
was built in 1810 to collect the water dripping from the ceiling. The name of the fountain
refers to the bible passage John 4:13-14 in which Jesus is telling a Samaritan woman that
only the water he offers has the ability to truly quench thirst and grant everlasting life.
This bible passage is inscribed in the wall behind the fountain (Thomas, 2010). As the
pathway continues, visitors will come across The Altar of the Mass, which was built to
allow mass to be held in the ossuary. The altar resembles a tomb, and is surrounded by
the bones from the very first deposit in 1786. Mass services were held in the catacombs
on All Souls Day up until the 1970s (Thomas, 2010).
At one point in time, bones were being transferred into the catacombs in such
large numbers that the air quality and circulation were compromised. To resolve this, a
bowl now known as the Sepulchral Lamp was built that held a constantly lit fire. The fire
helped to purify and circulate the air throughout the ossuary. The next notable structure is
Gilbert’s Tomb, which is an empty crypt that has a quote from Nicholas Joseph Laurent
Gilbert engraved upon it (Thomas, 2010). This empty tomb symbolizes the tomb that all
of the bodies contained in the ossuary will never have. The very last gallery of the
ossuary is known as the Crypt of the Passion of the Christ. It is named this in reference to
the last words spoken by Jesus during the crucifixion, “It is finished.” The center of this
room contains a large barrel-like column that is completely surrounded by bones and
contains the inscription of the bible verse John 19:30 in which Jesus speaks his last
works. Behind a gate in this gallery is the service shaft that was used to deposit all of the
bones into the ossuary.
Leaving the ossuary, visitors enter the Fontis Gallery, which contains a column
with an upside down bell at the top. This gallery contains the remains of several sinkholes
that have been preserved. The exit staircase of the catacombs is the original staircase built
in 1784. After a 54-foot ascent, visitors find themselves back on the streets of modern
day Paris.
References
"Catacombes: Histoire de Paris." Catacombes de Paris. Mairie de Paris, 2010. Web. 13
Apr. 2015.
Geiling, Natasha. "Beneath Paris' City Streets, There's an Empire of Death Waiting for
Tourists." Paris: Top Cities for the Cultural Traveller. Smithsonian, 28 Mar.
2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
Thomas, Gilles, Diane Langlume, and Emmanuel Gaffard. The Catacombs of Paris.
Paris: Parigramme, 2011. Print.