The catacombs

ARRETE C'EST ICI L'EMPIRE DE LA MORT.

Yes, the empire of death is here, 20 meters underground Paris; visit climbing 100 steep steps down a spiral staircase from what looks like a former customs house at place Denfert-Rochereau. A mile-long walk along a narrow graveled tunnel euphemistically called avenue de Montsouris takes you to a former underground quarry of hard rock used to build much of the magnificent architecture of Paris - turned into an elegant ossuary in the XVIII and XIX century.

Héricart de Thury, Napoleon's quarry master, had the sanitary idea to deposit most of Parisian's rotting cemetery remains of millions of bones in an orderly fashion, giving the dead a permanent and eerily attractive rest. He fulfilled his ambition to surpass the Roman catacombs and the walls were engraved with meaningful quotes: speak softly, don't wake the dead!

Toward the endless end the labyrinthine underground promenade takes you around the clear-water fountain of Lethe or "de l'oublie", bidding you to forget all you've seen.

A little further, the 11 meter tall bell-shaped fontis resulting from collapsed ceilings reminds you how hollow and fragile Parisian ground really is. To read the quotes a flashlight is useful; cover your head to avoid dripping water spoiling your haircut.  

03/01/2002 Einar Moos