Catacombs of Paris

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Crypt of the Sepulchral Lamp in the Catacombs of Paris
Crypt of the Sepulchral Lamp in the Catacombs of Paris

The Catacombs of Paris is a famous burial place in Paris, France. It is a network of subterranean tunnels and rooms located in what were Roman-era limestone quarries. The quarries were converted into a mass tomb near the end of the 18th century. It is most widely known as "the catacombs", but the official title is "les carrières de Paris" or "the quarries of Paris." Though the official tour only passes through the quarries in the 14th arrondissement, there are actually quarries in the 5th, 6th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th arrondissements (the municipal boroughs of Paris).

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[edit] History

Paris Catacombs
Paris Catacombs
Bone pile in Parisian Catacombs
Bone pile in Parisian Catacombs

Burial use in the depleted quarries was established in 1786 by the order of Monsieur Thiroux de Crosne, Lt. General of Police, and by Monsieur Guillaumot, Inspector General of Quarries. At the time, the Les Halles district in the middle of the city was suffering from disease, due to contamination caused by improper burials and mass graves in churchyard cemeteries, especially the large Cimetière des Innocents. It was decided to discreetly remove the bones and place them in the abandoned quarries.

Remains from the cemetery of Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs were among the first to be moved. Bodies of the dead from the riots in the Place de Greve, the Hotel de Brienne, and Rue Meslee were put in the catacombs on August 28 and 29, 1788.

The catacomb walls are covered in graffiti dating from the 18th century onwards. Victor Hugo used his knowledge about the tunnel system in his novel Les Misérables. In 1871 communards killed a group of monarchists in one chamber. During World War II, Parisian members of the French Resistance used the tunnel system. Also during this period, German soldiers established an underground bunker in the catacombs below Lycee Montaigne, a high school in the 6ème arrondissement. (This bunker is not on the tourist route and can only be seen during an "unauthorized visit", see below.)


The underground tunnels and chambers have long posed safety problems for construction in Paris. Quarries sometimes cave in, occasionally resulting in a hole in the ground above and causing damage to buildings. To prevent this, the IGC, Inspection générale des Carrières (General Inspection of the Quarries) was established in 1777 by the government in order to monitor the current quarries and prohibit the digging of new quarries. The IGC did, however, dig observation tunnels in order to provide themselves with better access to the quarries so that they might better monitor, repair, and map the consolidated quarries.

The monitoring and consolidation work has continued to this day. Because of the number of quarries, subway tunnels, train tunnels and sewer tunnels that have been dug underneath Paris, as well as the softness of the stone involved, extra caution is taken when new construction is attempted or new tunnels are dug. (This did not prevent problems during the digging of Paris Métro Line 14.)

[edit] The catacombs today: unauthorized visits

A partially flooded section of rue de la Voie Verte
A partially flooded section of rue de la Voie Verte
Catacombs of Paris
Catacombs of Paris

Entrance to the catacombs is restricted. The portion of the catacombs open to the public is only a small part of an extensive network of underground tunnels, which spans more than 300km (about 186 miles) in length. The tunnel system is complex, and though some tunnels have plaques indicating the name of the street above, it is still quite easy to get lost: some passages are extremely low or narrow and others are partially flooded. There are also aging telephone wires, pipes, etc. that can hinder progress, and cave-ins, although rare, do occasionally occur. A good guide is therefore indispensable, and even many good guides still refer to a map from time to time. Because of these potential dangers, accessing the catacombs unescorted by officials has been illegal since November 2, 1955; today, there is a €60 fine if one gets caught by the cataflics — the special police who patrol the catacombs.

However, secret entrances do exist throughout Paris and it is possible to enter the catacombs via the sewers, metro, and certain manholes. Some unofficial visitors also hold keys to certain official entrances. On rare occasions people do make use of these access points and illegally enter the catacombs — for example, to meet clandestinely, to hold unusual parties, or simply as urban explorers. (Specifically, those who have an affinity for exploring the catacombs are known as cataphiles.)

For those who frequent the tunnels — either by official or unofficial means — cataphile etiquette includes leaving no garbage behind and never leaving entrances such as manholes open, as this could pose a potential danger to the public and thus might inspire officials to seal the entrance. Most cataphiles also look down upon tagging (that is, leaving behind graffiti in the form of a stylized signature).

In September 2004, an underground movie theater run by the Mexican Perforation — a French artistic movement that seeks to convey their ideas using underground places — was discovered by the French police.[1]

[edit] The Catacombs in Popular Culture

[edit] Books

  • In Umberto Eco's novel Foucault's Pendulum, the Paris catacombs were the resting place of a parchment concerning The Templars.
  • Many scenes in Bad Voltage, an 80s cyberpunk novel by Jonathan Littell, take place in the catacombs. The author is suspected of being a cataphile.
  • In Barbara Hambly's novel Those Who Hunt the Night, which takes place in 1907, two characters investigating the murders of London vampires descend into the catacombs. There they find Brother Anthony, a 600 year old priest turned vampire, living among the bones of the dead. Anthony believes that if he helps the dead find and assemble their bones when the trumpet sounds on Judgement Day he will win redemption for his sins.
  • In Robison Wells' novel, The Counterfeit, the catacombs are the location of a fictitious Illuminati meeting place. The main characters, Eric and Rebekah, are guided through the catacombs by a group of three cataphiles.
  • In Edgar Allan Poe's short story of 1846, The Cask of Amontillado, the main character Montressor walls up another man inside a cavity, deep within some catacombs, which are described as being lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris.
  • Max Brooks, in his book World War Z, about a hypothetical zombie epidemic, refers to the catacombs as being used and extended by refugees.

[edit] Films and Television

  • The cult classic Les Gaspards, known in English as The Holes, was filmed in and revolves around the catacombs. It was made in 1974 and stars a young Gerard Depardieu.
  • The upcoming film Catacombs is set in the Paris catacombs, even though it did not receive permission to film there. Catacombs features the singer P!nk and the actress Shannyn Sossamon.
  • Though not truly filmed in the Parisian catacombs, a Hollywood set created to mimic the catacomb ambiance was used in the production of the music video Slither by the rock band Velvet Revolver.
  • In the anime television series Noir, the fifth episode takes place in the Parisian catacombs.

[edit] Computer and video games

  • In the computer game Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, the player has to enter the Paris catacombs via a manhole in order to find a clue that leads to the next part of the game.
  • In Deus Ex, set in 2052, the player has to traverse part of the catacombs to reach another area of the city. The catacombs in the game's world are home to a clandestine group of French revolutionaries named Silhouette, who make their home in the German World War II bunker. A news terminal found in a building that serves as the catacombs entrance gives a brief history of the catacombs.
  • In Medal of Honor: Underground, one of the missions involves traversing the catacombs in order to escape German authorities after a mission to steal weapons goes bad.
  • In Nancy Drew Danger by Design, Nancy enters the catacombs to retrieve important clues.
  • In Midnight Club II, the Catacombs play host to high speed automobile races, or can be used in a shortcut in above-ground races.
  • In Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown, the elite special forces team Rainbow must explore the Catacombs of Paris to locate and eliminate a nest of terrorists within.
  • In the Tomb Raider III expansion, The Lost Artifact, Lara Croft explores a hidden area deep within the catacombs in the Paris levels. It is here where she finally recovers the Hand of Rathmore, (the artifact that she was looking for), but it is also where she confronts one of her arch enemies, Sophia Leigh, once again.

[edit] References

  1. ^ La Mexicaine De Perforation. Urban-Resources. Urban-Resources. Retrieved on June 16, 2006.

[edit] External links

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