World Travel Guide

Bad dreams guaranteed after a visit to the Catacombs of Paris. The network of tunnels of this former stone mine, are filled with millions of bones and skulls stacked along the walls. The catacombs date back to the end of the 18th century, when the prices of real estate in Paris began to raise and there was simply no space for cemeteries within the city limits.

The Catacombs of Paris or Catacombes de Paris are a famous underground ossuary in Paris, France. Located south of the former city gate, the "Barrière d'Enfer", at today's Place Denfert-Rochereau), the ossuary fills a renovated section of caverns and tunnels that are the remains of Paris' stone mines. Opened in the late 18th century, the underground cemetery became a tourist attraction on a small scale from the early 19th century, and has been open to the public on a regular basis from 1867. Following an incident of vandalism, they were closed to the public in September 2009 and reopened 19 December of the same year

Bodies of the dead from the riots in the Place de Grève, the Hôtel de Brienne, and Rue Meslée were put in the catacombs on 28 and 29 August 1788.

Bone pile in Parisian Catacombs