When we were in Paris we went to the catacombs which are located in a series of underground tunnels. The entrance to the catacombs is an unassuming 1 storey building, once inside there is a spiral staircase that leads approximately 19 meters below ground to the catacombs.  Once you reach the bottom there is an area approximately 5 square meters with displays on the history of the catacombs and geographical features of the rock. There is also a warning sign about the ossuary.

You are able to walk the  2 Kms of the catacombs at your own pace. The walk is not an easy stroll because the ground is not always level, lighting was dime and there are spots where water may drip through from the ceiling of the tunnel.

Not all of the areas of the catacombs are used as an ossuary. Some areas of the catacombs are basically narrow underground halls which lead to different parts of the catacombs.

The history of the catacombs is truly extraordinary, There are ancient mines  under Paris. They had mined a product called “Lutetian Limestone” which was used as a building material and for gypsum for use in the “plaster of paris”. The mines were eventually abandoned and in 1774 there were several cave-ins from the abandoned mines in the city of Paris. This caused officials to create a special division of architects responsible for the inspection, maintenance, and repair of the mines under buildings within and around Paris. Below is one of the markings from former inspections done in the 18th century.

The city of Paris was also facing another challenge with the growth of the population in Paris. The growing population was creating a saturation of existing cemeteries and concerns over health risks.

The ossuary was created when city officials tackled the two simultaneous problems; the cave-ins that started in 1774 and the overflowing cemeteries.  The city reclaimed the cemeteries and beginning in 1774 to 1786 there was nightly processions of remains from the Paris cemeteries to the shored up mines turned into an ossuary. More remains were added in later years to the ossuary. In total there are approximately 6 million human remains in the ossuary.

The ossuary provided the solution for the city. I can’t imagine how many and complex political issues they would have been involved in during this process. The challenge that city staff would have had dealing with these problems must have been incredible.

The feelings we had while walking through the catacombs was mixed. When we started the walk in the catacombs we had a feeling of awe and amazement at the tunnels, but as we moved deeper into the catacombs our feelings began to change.

As we walked further into the depths of the catacombs everyone taking the tour was quiet. There was very little talking among the group and it felt more like you entered into a funeral home. Our feelings changed to more of an eerie sense of awe as we thought about the long history of the place.  These catacombs were used by the French resistance during the Second World War, they hid in them and used the tunnels to go to different parts of the city.

At the entrance to the ossuary there is an engraving which read “Arrête! C’est ici l’empire de la Mort” it translates to “Stop! This is the Empire of the Dead”.

Once we arrived at the ossuary section of the catacombs our feelings changed again. Inside the actual ossuary we had an  eerie and sadness that came over us. It was just hard to imagine all of the human remains in the ossuary.  Approximately 6 million human remains were stored here and some of the skulls and bones were used as a decorative display.

Sections of the ossuary had markings to indicate which cemeteries or time periods the remains were from.

Some of the sections had more of an ornate design than others.

As we walked further into the depths of the ossuary we began to be dismayed by the displays of human bones. These human remains had no marker and would never be known again as to who they were and their identities are lost forever.

Along the ossuary there were several plaques in Latin. The plaque below was displayed as we walked through the ossuary. It translates roughly as the following.

Translation –“certain death awaits you ; These days certain but death . Remember to always watch , the last light of the hidden”

As we reached the end of the ossuary section there was a plaque that was displayed in latin and it translates roughly as follows: 

has no fear of death of those who despise the life of the soil

There were a lot of different human remains displayed as we walked through the ossuary section. I have only posted a few images of the human remains out of respect for the ossuary. It was very humbling and something we will never forget.

“au revoir et bonne journée”