Description of the attraction
The Paris Catacombs are a huge network of artificial tunnels and caves, stretching under the city, according to some sources, for 300 kilometers. In addition, it is the world's largest burial site: since the end of the 18th century, the catacombs have taken the remains of approximately six million people.
The catacombs were formed on the site of quarries that have given Paris stone since the time of Louis XI. Limestone, a comfortable and durable building material, was cut here. The city grew rapidly, new mines were opened farther and farther from the center. By the 17th century, long caverns had formed under many residential areas of Paris - entire streets were "hanging" over the abyss.
Realizing the scale of the threat, Louis XVI, by his decree, created the General Inspectorate of Quarries, which exists to this day. For more than two centuries, the inspection has done a tremendous job of strengthening the dungeons.
The current appearance of the catacombs is shaped by another problem that Paris faced in the middle of the 18th century. Since ancient times, cemeteries were located near churches. In the cemetery of the Innocents alone, the remains of two million bodies lay ten meters thick. In 1780, the wall of the cemetery collapsed, and the basements of neighboring houses were filled with remains and sewage. For fifteen months special convoys took out the bones from here and placed them in the former quarries. The city then set about cleaning up seventeen more cemeteries. The catacombs have become a resting place.
During the German occupation, a secret Wehrmacht bunker was located in the quarry on the left bank of the Seine. Just 500 meters away was the headquarters of the French Resistance.
Today, 2.5 kilometers of underground galleries are specially equipped for tourists. People with strong nerves can inspect the ossuary itself, whose walls are built of millions of bones and skulls. The historical exposition acquaints visitors with curious facts: Emperor Napoleon III received important guests in the catacombs, the guardian of the Val de Grasse church tried to find old wine cellars here, but got lost - his skeleton was found eleven years later, identifying by keys. And during the Cold War, the underground galleries were equipped with bomb shelters in case of a nuclear attack.
Now the catacombs are temporarily closed to tourists.
