The Catacombs of Paris

Yesterday an American couple we met had warned us that the Catacombs were difficult to find.  They shouldn't have bothered...as soon as we emerged from the Metro we could see the queue stretching all the way around the block.  After a long wait, we reached the entrance and began the steep descent down the winding staircase.

130 steps to go down, 83 steps to come back up

The primary reason for the creation of the catacombs was public sanitation.  The long-held practice of burying people in large trenches without coffins resulted in rapid decay and contamination of well water.  By the late 1700's, especially in the very crowded Saints Innocents Cemetery near Les Halles, something had to be done to prevent the spread of contagion and disease.  The solution was to remove the existing bones to an ossuary and create new cemeteries outside the city limits.  The site chosen for the ossuary was an abandoned quarry in the south of the city.

The initial caverns we walked through contained sculptures in the rock that were created by miners before the site became the catacombs.

There are 2 kms of dimly lit passageways to walk through -- not for the faint of heart.

When you reach the ossuary, you are warned by the words "Stop! This is the empire of death".

Piles and piles of bones line the passageways.  All are labeled with the cemetery and date of removal to the catacombs (the process of removal took place over many years during the 18th and 19th centuries).  Some were stacked in formation.

Other stacks seemed less orderly.

After a while, it gets a little eerie.  Your mind can play tricks on you in the dim light.

Overall the estimate is that the Parisian Catacombs contain the remains of over 6 million people.

To leave the catacombs you must climb another long spiral staircase, requiring some endurance.  There is no elevator, so it is best to be in good shape for climbing the 83 steps to the exit.  The city of Paris wants to ensure that the population of the catacombs doesn't reach 6 million and one, so just in case:

I guess we didn't get our fill of skulls and bones because we headed to a Mexican restaurant called "Rice and Beans" for a taco dinner.  The restaurant has a very Día de los Muertos vibe.

The food was excellent and everyone had a good time.